The dengue virus is part of the group of an arbovirus, which means that it is transmitted by insects. It has four types of viruses that cause dengue: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4.
Infection by one of them gives permanent immunity to the same type. Thus, if an individual catches hemorrhagic dengue once, he will not have hemorrhagic dengue again, and partial and temporary immunity against the other three.
Because of this, it is necessary to be very careful. If the person has already had common dengue and asymptomatic dengue, it is possible that the next contamination may generate one of the two most serious variations of the disease.
See, therefore, how dangerous it can be: if you have had common dengue and asymptomatic dengue, if you are infected again this can happen in a much more serious variation of the disease, such as hemorrhagic dengue for example.
Dengue has as its vertebrate host, man and other primates. But only the human being has a clinical manifestation of the infection. And the period of action of the virus in the body is approximately seven days. In other primates, the period of infectious disease is short-lived.
Types of Dengue
These types are best known by the following names: asymptomatic, hemorrhagic dengue, common dengue and dengue shock syndrome. We will explain more about these diseases below.
- Asymptomatic dengue is the least bad of the four types, considering the way the disease manifests itself in the body. This implies, therefore, that their symptoms are milder and, in general, may go unnoticed by the individual.
- Common dengue is the most common type, which affects most people infected with the disease. It is not the most serious type of dengue. In addition, compared to the other three types, it is the most commonly approached by the media.
- From the hemorrhagic dengue, the situation already complicates a little more. After all, this type of dengue, as its name suggests, causes, in addition to the symptoms of common dengue, also a hemorrhage, which causes bleeding in various parts of the body.
- The dengue shock syndrome is the rarest of the four types. As with hemorrhagic dengue, it is also serious, and its treatment must be done with the help of a doctor.
Dengue mosquito
Symptoms of Dengue
Each type of dengue can cause different symptoms, depending on the severity.
Asymptomatic dengue acts inside the body without showing symptoms. Thus, the individual does not always know that he has the disease, because he does not feel any symptoms.
Common dengue is composed of the most widespread symptoms. Many describe it as a stronger flu. Its main symptoms include: fever, headache and pain behind the eyes.
Hemorrhagic dengue, in addition to the symptoms of the common flu, adds tooth hemorrhage to your symptoms. This bleeding can result in bleeding from various parts of the body. However, the most common bleeds are those that occur in the gums.
Last but not least, dengue shock syndrome can cause symptoms such as tachycardia, that is, an increase in heart rate, which can lead to death.
Main Transmission Vector
As we said earlier, the dengue virus is part of the group of an arbovirus, which means that it is transmitted by insects.
Dengue is transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, and the only one that transmits the virus is the female mosquito. Because the female collects the human blood to use in her needs with the young: the blood is necessary for the eggs to be produced.
Person With Dengue
How does contamination happen?
Dengue is transmitted through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito in the human body, which occurs when the female draws blood to use with her eggs, which will later turn into larvae.
After the bite, the virus may take some time to manifest in the human body. To better describe the stages of virus transmission, we can summarize this transmission of the virus as follows:
- The female of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito lays its eggs in containers with water. Upon hatching, the larvae (mosquito hatchlings) begin to live in the water and stay there for up to a week.
- After a week has passed, these larvae become adult mosquitoes. These, in turn, are ready to infect more people and restart the cycle.
That is why it is so important to end the places where the mosquito can breed. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is able to lay new eggs at a very fast speed. In addition, the adult dengue mosquito lives an average of forty-five days.
