Seven years ago, my son contracted a mosquito-borne viral infection, the dengue virus. Three days of high to low fever, had me suspected of dengue fever. On the fourth day, I have seen that he had bleeding gums, right then I decided to take him to a hospital since I know how fatal dengue is. It pays to be informed of every disease that could snatch out the ones we love. Though he survived that fatal disease, it leaves a traumatic experience for him due to intermittent blood extraction to check on his platelets. I have come to know through doctors that there are four (4) strains of dengue infection in which you cannot be immune if you have had the other one. My son had strain I (DEN-1) and strain IV (DEN-4), meaning he is still not immune to strain II and III.
After five years, I contracted another mosquito-borne viral infection. Fever, headache, and massive joint pains which I suspected then as dengue. I am taking chances with my life then before seeking the doctor's help, if my gum bleeds that was it. Joint pains is unbearable for me then because I was not able to walk, so I consulted my doctor and was diagnosed having the chikungunya virus. Though this one is not fatal, the extreme pain of the symptoms as well as taking antibiotics was hard for me.
The onset of another mosquito-borne virus is in our news nowadays, the zika virus urges me to do some research on the four most known mosquito-borne viral infections aside from malaria, yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, and zika virus.
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes.
- Incubation is 3-6 days.
- The 1st acute phase occurs with fever, muscle pain with prominent backache, headache, shivers, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting.
- The 2nd phase, the more toxic phase, high fever returns, and several body systems are affected.
- Jaundice, abdominal pains, vomiting, and bleeding can occur from the mouth, nose, eyes, and stomach.
- Blood also appears in the vomit and feces. Kidney function deteriorates. Patients who enter the toxic phase die within 10 - 14 days.
- Vaccines are available.
- No specific treatment but can be treated with antibiotics.
Dengue Virus is transmitted by a female mosquito of the species Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The former is usually widespread in tropical and subtropical countries in Asia while the latter is in cooler temperate regions of Europe.
- Aedes aegypti is a day mosquito that bites early in the morning and before dusk in the evening.
- Incubation is 4-10 days.
- A high fever of up to 40°C/104°F, headache, pain behind the eyes and muscle pains, nausea and vomiting, swollen glands, rashes, and bleeding gums are the symptoms but not necessarily all of them.
- Complications that can be deadly are plasma leaking, organ impairment, severe bleeding, respiratory diseases, or fluid accumulation which may occur 3-7 days after the 1st symptoms.
- Infected persons are the carriers of the disease.
- No specific treatment but maintenance of the patient's body fluid is critical for its treatment.
- Vaccine is now available
Chikungunya Virus is also transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes, the most common are the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The name chikungunya is derived from the Kimakonde language in Africa, "to become contorted" since the patient appears stooped due to joint pains.
- The virus is transmitted from person to person by infected female mosquitoes.
- Sudden onset of fever accompanied by joint pains are the primary symptoms.
- Onset of illness occurs in 4 to 8 days or 2 to 12 days.
- Headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, fatigue, and rash are the common symptoms.
- Joint pain can be debilitating and can last for weeks, months, or even years.
- Symptoms can be the same as in dengue and can be sometimes misdiagnosed in some regions.
- No specific treatment or cure but treatment is focused on relieving the symptoms.
Zika Virus is transmitted to a person through the bite of an infected mosquito, Aedes aegypti, the same mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever.
- incubation period is not clear
- symptoms include mild fever, rash, and conjunctivitis which lasts for 2 to 7 days.
- some symptoms are similar to other mosquito-borne diseases, including muscle, and joint pains, malaise, and headache.
- no specific treatment and vaccines available
** Zika Virus is reportedly associated with a birth defect of microcephaly due to an increase in several babies born with it in Brazil. Regarding the matter, World Health Organization (WHO) just released a news statement associating neurological birth defects with the zika virus.
** As we have noticed, the same mosquitoes and symptoms can be observed in all of these diseases. They only differ in the kinds of virus and strain the mosquitoes are carrying and transmitting to humans.
Definition of Terms:
* incubation period - from the time of exposure to the onset of symptoms
* microcephaly - a type of birth or congenital defect wherein the infant's head is significantly smaller due to incomplete brain development.
* plasma leakage - leakage of blood plasma out of the capillaries.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
FOR MORE INFORMATION, LINKS ARE PROVIDED BELOW FOR DISSEMINATION:
#zikavirus #chikingunya #dengue #yellowfever #aedesaegypti #microcephaly
Succumb to an unknown chronic pain that could stop my world for a time, I cherish every moment that I can touch and hold hands with my kids, especially my youngest...Faith. Stand and go out looking at the greens, smell the breeze at the beach, eat my favorite foods, working on my laptop to write what I was thinking. Pain can make one surrender life itself. So much throbbing pain every minute wet my eyes to tears. Pain that lasts, it seems to no end. Every pain I dreaded to feel. Worries came in when I feel its onset. 
