Whenever there is a spike in cases of dengue, hospitals face the tough task of reviving patients whose platelet count had dipped drastically to 10,000 or even much less, requiring platelet infusion. The normal platelet count ranges from 1.5 lakh to 3 lakh.
Delay in timely and appropriate medical intervention is said to be the reason for drastic dip in platelets and patients almost slipping to a haemorrhagic status (bleeding) or dengue shock syndrome (the pulse would drop and patient is almost unconscious).
Like other viral infections, dengue also shows symptoms such as fever, runny nose, sore throat, and muscle pain. Instead of consulting a doctor, even the literate tend to visit the pharmacy for a dose of paracetamol and analgesics. Dengue affords very little time for experimenting this way. The longer the experimentation, it gives that much time for platelets to drop and toxins to rise in the patient’s body.
“When the temperature rises and persists at 102 to 104 degrees, it should ring a bell and the patient should consult a doctor,” says Senior Consultant Physician Abdullah Cherayakkat, who heads the fever clinic put up at Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences with dengue cases rising in Kozhikode.
“When an accurate testing facility that can provide the result the same day is available in all standard hospitals, people should use this to confirm or rule out dengue, rather than experiment with drugs over the counter,” he says. “When people approach drug stores directly and cite fever, throat and body pain, there is every possibility of being provided with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and betalaktam antibiotics. Taking these without the doctor prescribing it is fraught with the risk of side-effects,” Dr. Cherayakkat warns.
These antibiotics (such as amoxicillin) can lead to excessive vomiting and diarrhoea. Amoxicillin is a drug to treat bacterial infection, not viral. Dengue is caused by flavivirus, not bacteria.
There are four or five types of dangerous dengue virus and infection with one does not guarantee immunity from or resistance to the other. Therefore, timely treatment is vital.
“It is especially important for persons with cancer, diabetes, and hypertension to approach a doctor if they have symptoms of dengue. Over-the-counter drugs can interfere with the drugs they are taking for existing problems. Those taking immuno-suppressants, such as persons who had undergone kidney and liver transplantation, should be under strict vigil. Their low immunity because of the drugs leaves them vulnerable to infection. Any delay in treating dengue can prove disastrous, more quickly in such cases.”
(Reporting by
K.V. Prasad)
