Dengue is no longer confined to the monsoon season, and its symptoms have changed significantly in recent years, making the disease harder to detect early, doctors warn.
Medicine specialist Dr. Saif Hossain Khan said the classic symptoms — high fever, eye pain, severe body and joint pain, and a reddish rash — are no longer clearly present in many patients. Instead, patients are presenting with mild fever or a general feeling of unwellness, often without realizing they have dengue. Their condition can deteriorate suddenly within days.
The most dangerous period, specialists say, is the days after the fever subsides. Many patients assume they are recovering when the fever drops, but this is the “critical phase.” In the three days after the fever breaks, blood pressure can fall, platelet counts can decline rapidly, and the risk of hemorrhage increases, requiring close medical monitoring and testing.
New presentations of dengue also include severe abdominal pain, repeated vomiting, diarrhea, extreme weakness, and unusual fatigue. In some cases, the liver, kidneys, and brain can be affected.
Doctors noted that the dengue virus has four serotypes. A person previously infected with one serotype faces a significantly higher risk of severe complications — including dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome — if subsequently infected with a different serotype.
Specialists advised seeking immediate medical attention if symptoms include excessive vomiting, sharp pain on the right side of the abdomen, signs of jaundice, or unusual weakness. Dengue patients should drink adequate fluids, get sufficient rest, and follow their doctor’s instructions, they said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report