KONTAN.CO.ID – Jakarta. The rainy season arrives, parents must recognize the characteristics of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in children. The reason is, dengue hemorrhagic fever is prone to occur in children at the beginning of the rainy season.
Dengue fever is one of the health problems that are prone to attack children in the rainy season. Recognizing the characteristics of dengue fever will speed up the child getting the right medical treatment.
The characteristics of dengue fever in children are sometimes similar to the flu, so this health problem is detected too late. In fact, proper medical treatment is important to overcome dengue fever.
To raise awareness of the health problems caused by the bite of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, identify some of the characteristics of dengue fever in children, how to deal with it, and how long it takes to watch out for this disease.
Characteristics of dengue fever in children
Launching the Baby Center, there are several characteristics of dengue fever in children that sufferers usually feel. The following are the characteristics of dengue fever in children:
- High fever, body temperature can reach 40 degrees Celsius
- Fussy and restless
- The body is lethargic and often drowsy
- Crying often
- Bleeding gums or nosebleeds
- Rash appears on the skin
- Frequent vomiting, up to three times a day
- The back of the eye hurts, especially when the eyeball is moved
- Body aches due to muscle and joint pain
- Headache
- No appetite, or reluctant to breastfeed
- Nauseous
The characteristics of dengue fever in children usually appear between four to ten days after the child is bitten by an Aedes Aegypti mosquito infected with the dengue virus. Therefore, we must always check the condition of the child if there is a health problem.
How to treat dengue fever in children
If you find some of the characteristics of dengue fever in children, immediately consult a doctor for a health check. In addition to performing a physical examination, doctors usually also recommend blood tests to confirm the diagnosis.
There is no specific cure for dengue fever. Doctors usually prescribe paracetamol to reduce fever and relieve pain. You can also try several ways to deal with dengue fever in children, the following:
- Make sure your child gets enough rest
- Give your child plenty of fluids to drink to avoid dehydration
- Provide nutritious food so that the recovery process can run optimally
- Compress the child’s fever so that his body temperature drops quickly
In addition to the methods above, parents and caregivers also need to be aware of changes in the child’s body condition while undergoing the recovery process when exposed to dengue fever.
When to watch out for the characteristics of dengue fever in children?
When a child is exposed to dengue fever, parents and caregivers should not be careless. The reason is, dengue fever has a phase similar to a horse saddle. In the early stages of the disease, the patient will appear very sick and then the fever will drop, so many people assume the disease is cured.
When the fever drops below 38 degrees Celsius, sometimes some dengue patients who don’t get proper medical treatment start experiencing potentially fatal complications.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), you need to take your child to the hospital immediately if the symptoms of dengue fever in a child cause:
- Severe stomach ache
- Vomiting continuously
- Breath becomes short or fast
- Vomiting blood
- Constant restlessness
- Very weak or unconscious
Some of the characteristics of dengue fever in children above indicate that dengue fever is entering a critical phase. In this critical phase of DHF, patients with dengue fever require proper observation and medical care for at least 24-48 hours. The goal is to prevent complications and even death.
Those are some of the characteristics of dengue fever in children. When the rainy season arrives, vigilance needs to be increased to detect the characteristics of dengue fever in children.
This article has been published on Kompas.com with the title “12 Symptoms of DHF (Dengue Fever) in Children that Shouldn’t Be Underestimated“,
Author : Mahardini Nur Afifah
Editor : Mahardini Nur Afifah
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