Do not ignore 2nd attack of dengue

Do not ignore 2nd attack of dengue New Delhi, August 03, 2016: If you have suffered from dengue in the past be more careful as the second attack of dengue may be more dangerous than the first attack, said Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal – President Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) and Honorary Secretary General IMA. There are four different strains of dengue and one can, suffer with dengue four times during lifetime. Subsequent dengue infections are more likely to end up with deadly complications. A person with dengue can also simultaneously suffer from malaria. Malaria and dengue together can lower platelet counts to a dangerous level leading to complications. In a dengue season nobody should take aspirin for fever as it can precipitate bleeding, he added. In dengue most complications occur within two days of subsiding of fever and most people are careless during this period. Any abdominal pain, giddiness or weakness after the fever has subsided should be attended to, by a doctor. Dengue complications during this period are due to shift of blood volume and patient requires rapid infusion of oral or intravenous fluids in large quantity. There is no need for giving platelets unless the counts have fallen lower than 2% of original platelet counts