Beware of Dengue Fever


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Posted by FamilyofSix on Thursday, 23. August 2007 at 23:40 Bali Time:

Thought I should let you know, better to be safe than sorry.

I have a friend who works in one the emergency departments in Perth. They had 2 elderly ladies admittied straight from the International Hospital, after being discharged from Denpassar Hospital with Dengue Fever.

You need to be aware of the current increased risk, prevention is simple. As the mosquitoes which carry Dengue Fever are more active in the daylight hours, you need to avoid stagnant water in and around urban areas. There is no current vaccination.

The best prevention is to try to remain in screened or air-conditioned building. When you, try go out wear clothes which reduced the area of exposed skin (it's hard with the weather) and use an effective mosquito repellant, one which contains N,N-diethyl-metatoluamide (DEET) [reference: NEJM,2005;353:924]

This will not stop us from going, it just means we will make sure every uses a combined suncream/insect repellent when we go out side.

Its treatment is the relief of symptoms: maintain fluids to prevent dehydration, paracetamol to relieve muscle and joint pain. Avoid aspirn or non-steroidal antiinflammatories, risk os bleeding complications.

Hope this helps




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