Dengue fever medical therapy
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
The mainstay of treatment for Dengue fever is supportive therapy including increased oral fluid intake and supplementation with intravenous fluids to prevent dehydration. Acetominophen rather than aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be administered to treat the fever and pain.
General Measures
- Oral and intravenous fluids
- 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.
Management of Complications
The presence of melena may indicate internal gastrointestinal bleeding requiring platelet and/or red blood cell transfusion. A platelet transfusion may be indicated in rare cases if the platelet count drops significantly (below 20,000) or if there is significant bleeding.