- Dengue fever is a disease caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes.
- Symptoms include severe joint and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, headache, fever, exhaustion, and rash. The presence of fever, rash, and headache (the "dengue triad") is characteristic of dengue fever.
- Dengue is prevalent throughout the tropics and subtropics.
- Because dengue fever is caused by a virus, there is no specific medicine or antibiotic to treat it. For typical dengue fever, the treatment is directed toward relief of the symptoms (symptomatic treatment).
- The acute phase of the illness with fever and muscle pain lasts about one to two weeks.
- Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is a specific syndrome that tends to affect children under 10 years of age. It causes abdominal pain, haemorrhage (bleeding), and circulatory collapse.
- The prevention of dengue fever requires control or eradication of the mosquitoes carrying the virus that causes dengue.
- There is currently no vaccine to prevent dengue fever.
