Sri Lanka on threshold of dengue wave – NHSL physician | Sunday Observer

Sri Lanka on threshold of dengue wave – NHSL physician

26 December, 2021

It seems that Sri Lanka is on the threshold of another huge dengue wave after 2017. If you have flu-like symptoms such as fever, body ache and back pain, it can either be Covid-19 or dengue and it is very unlikely that it could be any other illness, a physician of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL), Dr. Upul Dissanayake said.

Even if the NS1 (Dengue Virus Antigen Detection) test is negative, people should be vigilant because only 62 percent show a positive result when he or she gets dengue for the second time, he said.

He told a press briefing at the Health Promotion Bureau in Colombo on Wednesday that a huge dengue wave comes once in four years and the last wave hit Sri Lanka in 2017. At present, there are around 10 dengue patients at the National Hospital and 30 to 50 percent of them are in the Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) stage which is fatal.

Dr. Dissanayake said that when people get dengue for the first time, the percentage of their NS1 test becoming positive is 98 percent and it is only 62 percent when they get dengue for the second time. Therefore, it is better to take bed rest and Paracetamol. He or she can drink 2,500 ml of liquid. Children should be given liquid on doctor’s instructions.

Full Blood Counts should be checked regularly until the patient fully recovers. The reports should be taken within a few hours. No patient should stay at home when his or her Platelet Count goes down below 100. A dengue patient recovers within seven to 10 days. If there are dengue patients living around your house and you get a fever, it is dengue for sure, Dr. Dissanayake said.

Mosquito coils do not prevent dengue. Cleaning all dengue mosquito breeding sites is essential. Applying mosquito repellents and wearing clothes covering the body is helpful, he said.

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