Dengue Fever

Dengue fever is a disease caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes. Transmitted from human to human or from primate to human by the female Aedes aegypti mosquito.

 

Dengue fever is a benign acute febrile syndrome occurring in tropical regions. In a small proportion of cases, the virus causes increased vascular permeability that leads to a bleeding diathesis or disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) known as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).

 

The presence (the "dengue triad") of fever, rash, and headache (and other pains) is particularly characteristic of dengue.

In 20-30% of DHF cases, the patient develops shock, known as the dengue shock syndrome (DSS).