Skip to main content

Dengue



Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection endemic to Singapore and tropical regions worldwide. In most people it comes in the form of an unpleasant but self-limiting viral fever. Symptoms include headaches, vomiting, severe muscle and joint aches and a characteristic rash. A small proportion of cases develop into severe dengue which can cause life threatening bleeding.

There is no specific treatment for dengue or dengue fever - however, patients with dengue might have to do a daily blood test to monitor their white blood cell count to ensure it does not drop to a dangerous level. In severe cases, patients may require hospitalisation and aggressive emergency treatment.


There are 4 different serotypes of the dengue virus (DENV1-4) circulating so one can get infected up to 4 times. There is a dengue vaccination that is suitable for patients who have been infected with dengue before and has proved to be effective in protecting the patient against future infection.



https://www.healthhub.sg/a-z/diseases-and-conditions/192/topic_dengue_fever_MOH

https://www.moh.gov.sg/diseases-updates/dengue

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dengue-and-severe-dengue

https://www.worldmosquitoprogram.org/en/learn/mosquito-borne-diseases/dengue


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects one’s movements. Parkinson’s disease signs and symptoms are different for every individual and may go unnoticed in the early stage. Symptoms typically start on one side of the body and remain worse on that side even after the symptoms begin appearing in both sides of the body.  Generally, the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, impaired posture and balance, loss of automatic movements such as blinking or swinging of arms when walking, and speech and writing changes.  Parkinson’s disease occurs when neurons in an area of the brain that controls movement becomes impaired or dies. These neurons normally produce dopamine. As more neurons become impaired or die, the amount of dopamine produced in the body is reduced significantly, causing the movement problems associated with Parkinson’s disease.  People with Parkinson’s also lose the nerve endings that produc...

Horner’s Syndrome

Horner’s syndrome is a condition where the sympathetic nerves on the face are damaged. 3 classic signs of Horner’s syndrome include miosis (constriction of the pupil), ptosis (drooping of the upper eyelid) and anhidrosis (absence of sweating of the face). It is a result of other medical problems such as stroke, tumor or spinal cord injury. Hence, treatment for the underlying issue may restore nerve function. The nerve pathway affected in Horner’s syndrome is divided into three groups of neurons called the first, second and third order neurons. These neurons lead from the hypothalamus of the brain through the spinal cord and finally along the facial skin and muscles of the iris and eyelids  Sources: https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/6670/ horners-syndrome

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a bone disease that occurs when there is too little bone or when the body produces too little bone. The word is derived from the terms ‘osteo’ which means ‘bone’ and ‘porosis’ which means porous. Compared to normal bones, the spongy bone has more holes or pores, weakening the structural integrity of the skeleton. Bone cels called Osteoclasts, break down bone tissue and Osteoblasts build bone using minerals such as Calcium and Phosphate. Hormones such as oestrogen and testosterone help to keep the number and activity of Osteoblast high.  There are 2 types of osteoporosis. Primary Osteoporosis is due to old age when Osteoclasts remove more bone than Osteoblast make. This usually happens after the age of 30 when adults reach their ‘peak bone mass’. Secondary Osteoporosis affects both children and adults and mainly stem from cancer, hormonal imbalances or certain use of medications. In severe cases, bones may become too weak to support the rest of the human body and is ...