Ballesteros, Lorainne Feiy D.

4BSN-4, Cuison Hospital Incorporated/October 3 and 10, 2023/7am-3pm

Clinical Instructor: Sir Cris Adrian Laforteza

Nursing Journal on Dengue Fever: Global Importance and Immunopathology

Reference: Schaefer TJ, Panda PK, Wolford RW. Dengue Fever. [Updated 2022 Nov 14]. In:
StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-. Available from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430732/

Summary:

Dengue is one of the most important emerging viral diseases of humans in the world afflicting
humanity in terms of morbidity and mortality and the risk of dengue has shown an increase in
recent years due to rapid proliferation of mosquito breeding sites. Symptoms are similar to
influenza, it results in dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and in its severe form dengue shock
syndrome (DSS) can threaten the patient's life primarily through increased vascular permeability
and shock. Dengue virus causes a range of diseases with a small proportion of infected patients
developing severe plasma leakage that leads to dengue shock syndrome, organ impairment and
bleeding. Infection with one of the four viral serotypes results in the development of homotypic
immunity to that serotype. However, subsequent infection with a different serotype is associated
with an increased risk of developing severe disease, which has led to the suggestion that severe
disease is triggered by immunopathology. The clinical phenotype of dengue can vary depending
on several factors, of which age, genetic predisposition and background immunity are major
determinants. However, most clinical infections result in a self- limiting febrile illness termed
dengue fever. The hallmark feature of severe disease is increased capillary permeability, causing
plasma leakage, which can lead to haemodynamic compromise and dengue shock syndrome
(DSS). If untreated, severe disease can lead to a mortality rate of up to 20% of affected
individuals but with expert management and primarily careful fluid replacement, this can be
reduced to less than 1%.

Reflection:

Nurses play an important role in the health care system in both institutionalized settings and
community care centers. In a hospital, nurses come across various types of patients therefore
they should have wide knowledge about various diseases, especially infectious ones such as
dengue fever. Having adequate knowledge can help the nurses in providing health education to
the general public and patients thus helping in minimizing the occurrence of dengue.
Implementing prevention and management programs undertake different nursing roles as they
work in collaboration with other professionals in the health care setting in order to reach the
target of zero mortality, decrease numbers of cases and prevent outbreaks.