<p>There are no specific anti-viral tablets or injections to treat dengue. Its virus cannot be killed like that of other vector-borne diseases. The treatment is giving intravenous liquids. In acute cases, platelets are given through blood transfusion.<br /><br />World Health Organisation documents say that if left untreated, dengue can claim the lives of 50 per cent infected patients. Liquid intake and platelet infusion can bring the mortality rate down to three per cent.<br /><br />For most dengue patients, it is enough to give lots of liquid to flush the virus out and keep the platelets going up. In smaller clinics, patients are not admitted for long and are asked to take extra liquid supplements. Doctors suggest taking fluids with lime and lemon, and at least six litres of water every day.<br /><br />The need to give platelets depends on many criteria, apart from the patient’s platelet count.<br /><br />“It depends on the general health and history of the patient. Sometimes, we give platelets when the count is 37,000; other times, we wait till it drops to 20,000,” says Dr Chandra Prakash of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.</p>.<p>What creates problem in dengue treatment is the fact that platelets from blood can be preserved for only 48 hours. Hence, they can’t be collected and stored in the lean period of the year.<br /><br />The person in need of platelets has to arrange for people with the same blood group. The blood is taken from the donor, and the tube carrying blood is connected to a machine separating platelets from the blood. The rest of the blood is transfused back into the donor’s body. People with low haemoglobin count cannot donate platelets.<br /><br />In government hospitals, dengue patients are admitted only when platelet infusion is needed. The rest of the patients are asked to take liquids on their own.<br /><br />The tests for dengue look into two blood components — antigens and antibodies. There are two tests, ELISA and rapid test, which determine the levels of the two and detect the presence of dengue. <br /><br />ELISA takes four hours for detection, while rapid test takes half-an-hour, and hence is more common. The government accepts only ELISA determined cases.<br />“ELISA is slightly more accurate than rapid test, but both have accuracy level above 90 per cent,” says Dr Chand Wattal, chairperson of department of microbiology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.<br /></p>
<p>There are no specific anti-viral tablets or injections to treat dengue. Its virus cannot be killed like that of other vector-borne diseases. The treatment is giving intravenous liquids. In acute cases, platelets are given through blood transfusion.<br /><br />World Health Organisation documents say that if left untreated, dengue can claim the lives of 50 per cent infected patients. Liquid intake and platelet infusion can bring the mortality rate down to three per cent.<br /><br />For most dengue patients, it is enough to give lots of liquid to flush the virus out and keep the platelets going up. In smaller clinics, patients are not admitted for long and are asked to take extra liquid supplements. Doctors suggest taking fluids with lime and lemon, and at least six litres of water every day.<br /><br />The need to give platelets depends on many criteria, apart from the patient’s platelet count.<br /><br />“It depends on the general health and history of the patient. Sometimes, we give platelets when the count is 37,000; other times, we wait till it drops to 20,000,” says Dr Chandra Prakash of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.</p>.<p>What creates problem in dengue treatment is the fact that platelets from blood can be preserved for only 48 hours. Hence, they can’t be collected and stored in the lean period of the year.<br /><br />The person in need of platelets has to arrange for people with the same blood group. The blood is taken from the donor, and the tube carrying blood is connected to a machine separating platelets from the blood. The rest of the blood is transfused back into the donor’s body. People with low haemoglobin count cannot donate platelets.<br /><br />In government hospitals, dengue patients are admitted only when platelet infusion is needed. The rest of the patients are asked to take liquids on their own.<br /><br />The tests for dengue look into two blood components — antigens and antibodies. There are two tests, ELISA and rapid test, which determine the levels of the two and detect the presence of dengue. <br /><br />ELISA takes four hours for detection, while rapid test takes half-an-hour, and hence is more common. The government accepts only ELISA determined cases.<br />“ELISA is slightly more accurate than rapid test, but both have accuracy level above 90 per cent,” says Dr Chand Wattal, chairperson of department of microbiology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.<br /></p>
