2008 Woodie Awards
Summer rains increase risk of dengue fever
By Monte Ashqar
Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: News
Originally published: 9/13/07 at 6:22 PM CSTLast update: 9/13/07 at 6:21 PM CST
- Page 1 of 3 next >
This year's abundance of rain has brought in a lot of things besides water.
Mosquitoes thrive in such humidity and moisture.
This kind of weather is the perfect breeding ground for the bugs.
With the rising number of mosquitoes, the risk of catching dengue fever increases dramatically.
The fever, which is transmitted via a virus that the mosquitoes carry, has similar symptoms to flu and cold in its early stages.
"The fever, though, lasts for two weeks with severe pain in joints and bones," said Dr. Teanna Staggs, biology chair. "Another name for the fever is 'break bone' fever because you feel like your bones are going to break and that you're going to die."
Staggs said one of the hypotheses says that the disease was imported from Asia to the U.S. in old tires because mosquitoes do not stray far from where they are hatched.
"The fever is transmitted to humans through the mosquito bite," Staggs said. "It is not a life-threatening disease, but there is no vaccine for it. It just goes away after two weeks."
According to an article in Discovering Science, in the college's online library, the incubation period to develop dengue is usually five to eight days, but may be as few as three or as many as 15 days.
Once the virus has had a sufficient incubation, the onset of the disease is sudden and dramatic.
The first symptom is usually the development of sudden chills, then a headache follows and the patient feels pain when he moves his eyes.
Within hours he is debilitated by extreme pain in the legs and joints and body temperature may rise to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
A pale rash may appear, usually on the face, but it is transient and soon disappears.
These symptoms persist for up to 96 hours, following which there is a rapid loss of fever accompanied by profuse sweating.
The patient begins to feel better for about a day, and then a second bout of fever overtakes him.
This temperature rise is rapid but peaks at a lower level than did the first episode.
Mosquitoes thrive in such humidity and moisture.
This kind of weather is the perfect breeding ground for the bugs.
With the rising number of mosquitoes, the risk of catching dengue fever increases dramatically.
The fever, which is transmitted via a virus that the mosquitoes carry, has similar symptoms to flu and cold in its early stages.
"The fever, though, lasts for two weeks with severe pain in joints and bones," said Dr. Teanna Staggs, biology chair. "Another name for the fever is 'break bone' fever because you feel like your bones are going to break and that you're going to die."
Staggs said one of the hypotheses says that the disease was imported from Asia to the U.S. in old tires because mosquitoes do not stray far from where they are hatched.
"The fever is transmitted to humans through the mosquito bite," Staggs said. "It is not a life-threatening disease, but there is no vaccine for it. It just goes away after two weeks."
According to an article in Discovering Science, in the college's online library, the incubation period to develop dengue is usually five to eight days, but may be as few as three or as many as 15 days.
Once the virus has had a sufficient incubation, the onset of the disease is sudden and dramatic.
The first symptom is usually the development of sudden chills, then a headache follows and the patient feels pain when he moves his eyes.
Within hours he is debilitated by extreme pain in the legs and joints and body temperature may rise to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
A pale rash may appear, usually on the face, but it is transient and soon disappears.
These symptoms persist for up to 96 hours, following which there is a rapid loss of fever accompanied by profuse sweating.
The patient begins to feel better for about a day, and then a second bout of fever overtakes him.
This temperature rise is rapid but peaks at a lower level than did the first episode.
This is an open forum for the readers of TheRanger.org. Abusive, inflammatory, slanderous, obscene and libelous language will not be tolerated. Please be considerate of other readers when posting comments. This is not the place for personal attacks. The staff of The Ranger.org reserves the right to deny publication of any posts. The comments posted here do not reflect the opinions of The Ranger staff, San Antonio College or the Alamo Community College District.
Be the first to comment on this story