Not seen in dengue: March 2010

Ans. D: Hepato-splenomegaly After an incubation period of 2-7 days the signs and symptoms of dengue appear. Dengue stas with chills, headache, pain upon moving the eyes, and low backache. Painful aching in the legs and joints occurs during the first hours of illness (breakbone fever). The temperature rises quickly as high as 104deg F (40deg C), with relative low hea rate and low blood pressure. The eyes become reddened. A flushing or pale pink rash comes over the face and then disappears. Fever and other signs of dengue last for two to four days, followed by rapid drop in temperature (defervescence) with profuse sweating. This precedes a period with normal temperature and a sense of well-being that lasts about a day. A second rapid rise in temperature follows. A characteristic rash appears along with the fever and spreads from the extremities to cover the entire body except the face. Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is identified by the detection of bleeding tendencies. Hepatomegaly may be present in more severe frank cases of DHF