Fever with headache

This being the dengue season all patients coming to the emergency with headache, fever or bodyache are sifted through with extra precaution. Going by numbers the incidence till now has been less than what it was in previous years but hasnt be low either.

Depending on the clinical presentation and symptoms dengue can be divided into thre types- the ‘usual’ or classical dengue or breakbone fever, Dengue hemorrhagic fever and Dengue shock syndrome. The illnes is caused by a virus and transmitted by a mosquito (Aedes) who usually bite during the day time. It has an incubation period of 3 to 10 days followed by sudden onset of gever and achills, intese headache, muscle and joint pain. Other symptoms include severe weakness, anorexia, altered taste sensation, colicky abdominal pain with abdominal tenderness. Fever is typically but not always followed by remisson and again fever (biphasic). In about 80% of cases there develops skin eruptions in remission or second fevrile phase which lasts for 1-2 days. Fever lasts for about 5 to 7 dys after which the recovery is complete with slow convalescence. The case fatality is quite low unlike the dengue hemorrhagic fever.

Thankfully patients have run of the mill fever and just ‘headache’ which respond to symptomatic treatment. Link to wikipedia on Dengue