Dengue fever medical therapy
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Dengue Fever Microchapters |
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Medical Therapy
The mainstay of treatment is supportive therapy. Increased oral fluid intake is recommended to prevent dehydration. Supplementation with intravenous fluids may be necessary to prevent dehydration and significant hemoconcentration if the patient is unable to maintain oral intake. A platelet transfusion is indicated in rare cases if the platelet level drops significantly (below 20,000) or if there is significant bleeding.
The presence of melena may indicate internal gastrointestinal bleeding requiring platelet and/or red blood cell transfusion.
It is very important to avoid aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. These drugs are often used to treat pain and fever though in this case they may actually aggravate the bleeding tendency associated with some of these infections. Patients should receive instead acetaminophen preparations to deal with these symptoms [2] if dengue is suspected.
Having a strong immune system also benefits recovery from dengue.