Dial 104 for Medical Help

Those who read The Hindu's Sunday edition may know this. But we are posting it for others who might not know.

GVK EMRI, the people who gave us the Emergency 108 service are also running a medical emergency service 104. By dialling this number, we can get assisstance from paramedics who guide us about what to do in case of an illness we cannot identify. All we'll need to do is tell them the symptoms.

This service is available in TamilNadu, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

MDB Series - Dengue Part 4

This post is fourth in the series about mosquito borne diseases.

Disclaimer: This post is for information purposes only. This is not written by any medical doctor or government official or anyone related to the worldwide research on mosquito borne diseases. Neither is this a complete information about dengue and should not be relied on for reference. However, we have taken care to refer to reliable sources on the web, the links to which would be provided at the end of the post.

Diagnosis

Clinical diagnosis is usually based on reported symptoms and physical examination. Since dengue has symptoms similar to many viral infections, diagnosis is made when there is fever combined with any two of the following conditions – nauseas and/or vomiting, body pain, rash, low white blood cell count and positive tourniquet test. The tourniquet test is useful in situations where laboratory conditions are not available.

The warning signs occur before the onset of severe dengue. To further determine if it is dengue, the patient’s blood is tested for the presence of the virus and antibodies. Serum samples from the patients’ body are collected for more accurate tests.

ELISA (Enzyme-linked Immuno Sorbent Assay) is a test conducted to find specific anti-dengue antibodies. This is the test conducted by the Government Hospitals in Tamilnadu for diagnosis.

There is a more expensive, complicated but more accurate test called PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) which is done to identify genome sequence of the virus from the serum sample or CSF (cerebro spinal fluid) of the patient. This method was introduced in 2012.

However, these tests are useful in diagnosis only when the condition is severe.

Sources: Dengue Virus Net, WHO, WebMD, Wikipedia, Medindia, US National Library of Medicine, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(India)

MDB Series - Dengue Part 3

This post is third in the series about mosquito borne diseases.

Disclaimer: This post is for information purposes only. This is not written by any medical doctor or government official or anyone related to the worldwide research on mosquito borne diseases. Neither is this a complete information about dengue and should not be relied on for reference. However, we have taken care to refer to reliable sources on the web, the links to which would be provided at the end of the post.

Development

When an infected mosquito bites a human being, the dengue virus enters the blood stream via the mosquito’s saliva. The virus first binds to dendritic cells that have the ability to identify pathogens.  They replicate inside the cells and use cell proteins to multiply. They enter the white blood cells and continue to replicate as the cells move throughout the body through blood. Through the walls of small blood cells, fluid leaks into other body cavities, leading to less blood circulation. This leads to low blood pressure and as consequence there is no sufficient blood flow to vital organs.

When initially the virus attacks a cell, the white blood cells produce a protein called interferon, which cause the fever like symptom. As the blood flow decreases, it leads to dysfunction of bone marrow which further leads to low platelet count. Platelets are necessary to clot blood and arrest flow of bleeding. This is the cause of a severe form of dengue called dengue haemorrhagic fever.

Symptoms

Usually most dengue infected people don’t exhibit many symptoms. Sometimes there are mild generic symptoms like fever. Very few people have severe fever. The incubation period for this disease ranges from 3 to 14 days, but usually it is 4 to 7 days.

The following are the typical symptoms of dengue,

·         Fever

·         Rash and/or increased skin sensitivity

·         Fatigue

·         Headache

·         Nausea

·         Vomiting

·         Cough

·         Sore throat

·         Joint ache

·         Muscle inflammation

·         Nasal stuffiness

·         Swollen lymph nodes

·         Pain behind the eyes

·         Mild bleeding

Dengue per se is not fatal. However, when a high fever is accompanied by any of the above listed symptoms, dengue should be suspected as variations of this disease are fatal.

Variations

There are more severe versions of this disease. Dengue haemorrhagic fever causes bleeding and low levels of blood platelets, resulting in death most often.  Dengue shock syndrome is caused when the blood pressure drops to dangerously low levels. When a patient is infected a second time by dengue, they will have complications associated with the disease. 

Sources: Dengue Virus Net, WHO, WebMD, Wikipedia, Medindia, US National Library of Medicine, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare( Govt of India)