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Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

Mary Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Medical School, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Indiana University.

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Fortunately, this viral disease is usually self-limited and usually adequate hydration and pain control will help the person through the infection. However, for dengue fever, a caution is given by most clinicians in home treatment. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (for example, aspirin (Bayer, Ecotrin), ibuprofen (Motrin), and other NSAIDs) should be avoided because of the tendency of the dengue viruses to cause hemorrhages. The NSAIDs may add to the hemorrhage symptoms. Other medications such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), codeine, or other agents that are not NSAIDs may be used.

More severe variations of dengue fever (hemorrhagic and shock syndrome) usually require additional supportive treatments; these patients often require hospitalization. IV hydration, blood transfusions, platelet transfusions, blood pressure support, and other intensive-care measures may need to be utilized in these patients. Consultation with infectious-disease and critical-care specialists is often advised to optimize patient care.

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