engue fever is a tropical disease caused by a virus carried by mosquitoes. The virus can cause fever, headaches, rashes, and pain throughout the body. Most cases of dengue fever are mild and go away on their own after about a week.
Dengue fever rarely strikes in the United States (the last cases were reported in Texas in 2005), but if you plan to travel to a foreign country - especially one in the tropics - it's wise to guard against dengue fever. Wearing insect repellant, covering sleep areas with netting, and avoiding the outdoors at dusk and dawn (when mosquitoes are most active) can help lower the chances of infection.
About Dengue Fever
Dengue (DEN-gee) fever is caused by four similar viruses spread by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, which are common in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide.
When an Aedes mosquito bites a person who has been infected with a dengue virus, the mosquito can become a carrier of the virus. If this mosquito bites someone else, that person can be infected with dengue fever. The virus can't spread directly from person to person.
Many kids with dengue fever don't have symptoms; others have mild symptoms that appear anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Symptoms typically last for 2 to 7 days. Once kids have had the illness, they become immune to that particular type of the virus (although they can still be infected by any of the other three types).
In rare cases, dengue fever can lead to a more serious form of the disease called dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). DHF can be life threatening and needs to be treated right away.