What is Dengue?

About Dengue:

• Dengue (break-bone fever) is a mosquito-borne viral infection.
• It is more common in tropical and subtropical climates, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
• While many dengue infections are asymptomatic or produce only mild illness, the virus can occasionally cause more severe cases, and even death.
• Transmission:
  • It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes carrying one of four types of dengue virus (DENV).
  • Dengue isn’t contagious from person to person except when passed from a pregnant person to their child.
• An estimated 400 million dengue infections occur worldwide each year, with about 96 million resulting in illness.
• A person can be infected with dengue multiple times in their life.
• Symptoms:
  • The most common symptoms are high fever, headache, body aches, nausea, and rash. Most will get better in 1–2 weeks.
  • A very small portion of people with dengue fever get a severe case. It’s called dengue hemorrhagic fever.
• Symptoms show up as the fever begins to ease. These may include vomiting that does not go away, rapid breathing, blood in vomit, and bleeding gums.
• Individuals who are infected for the second time are at greater risk of severe dengue. In severe cases, dengue can be fatal.
• Treatment:
  • There is no specific medicine to treat dengue. The focus is on treating pain symptoms.
  • It is generally treated with supportive care such as pain relievers, bed rest, and fluids. 

Q1: What is a Virus?

A virus is an infectious microbe consisting of a segment of nucleic acid (either DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat. A virus cannot replicate alone; instead, it must infect cells and use components of the host cell to make copies of itself. Often, a virus ends up killing the host cell in the process, causing damage to the host organism. Well-known examples of viruses causing human disease include AIDS, COVID-19, measles and smallpox.

Source: Karnataka High Court takes suo motu cognisance of dengue exigency based on a letter to the editor published in newspaper

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