Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever Poem by Daya Nandan

The dengue virus claims at about 20 000 lives a year,
Death by microscopic Flavivirus that truly strikes fear,
Transmitted to humans through dengue infected Aedes mosquitoes,
And strikes humans with a saddleback fever pattern that clearly shows,

The viral infection starts with a high grade fever lasting 2-5 days,
Often accompanied with retro-orbital, muscle or joint pain and malaise,
Anorexia, bleeding gums, epistaxis, menorrhagia, and hematuria can happen too,
Just mild parts of the problem that the dengue victim may go through,

Headaches, sore throat, diarrhoea, vomiting, rashes and gastrointestinal bleeding,
Are just some of the initial problems caused by the viral infection proceeding,
Soon after the febrile phase the critical phase of the disease will begin,
The body temperature and platelet count drops as the virus tries to win,

Blood plasma leakage and the risk of multi organ failure become worry,
Sometimes a reduction in conciousness comes and makes vision go blurry,
Abdominal pain, worsened diarrhoea and vomiting often occur at this stage,
More and more cytokines are released by mostly infected macrophage,

Complications like hepatitis, encephalitis and myocarditis can happen too,
Serious complications of dengue fever that pose a threat so scary and true,
Severe plasma leakage may reduce blood volume and bring fluid into the lungs,
One of the final stages before the virus releases the final bullets in its guns,

Blood pressure greatly reduces, pulse rate and temperature drops,
A dangerous stage where survival from dengue possibly stops,
But there are some that recover with medical or without treatment at this stage,
While the unfortunate ones will not survive to reach a ripe old age,

Those who survive 24-48 hours of critical phase move to the reabsorption phase,
Where health conditions most often improve in so many ways,
Those who survived organ dysfunction could have their problems get worse,
Hence, they have to be carefully monitored by a doctor or a nurse.

Not all patients experience every single symptom written above,
For those are only the most common noticed by the doctors we know and love,
If you feel that you have those symptoms go to the nearest clinic/hospital you know,
Take steps to ensure that the dengue infection does not grow!