Monsoon fever can be deceptive

Monsoon fever can be deceptive

In the current season any episode of fever should not be taken lightly as many diseases can cause fever, the commonest being viral, malaria, dengue or Chikungunya. However, fever can also be due to viral jaundice or typhoid.
Here are a few tips:

• Unless you suspect typhoid, no antibiotics are required.
• Viral fever is associated with cough, redness of the eyes or nasal discharge.
• Dengue will have fever with rash and pain in eye movement.
• Chikungunya is a triad of fever, rash and joint pain. Typically the joint pain will increase on compression of the joint.
• Typically, the fever in malaria comes with chills and rigors and will have normal phase in between two episodes of fever.
• Fever in jaundice disappears once the jaundice appears.
• Typhoid fever is often continuous with relatively low pulse rate and with toxic feeling.

Precautions

• No antibiotics are required unless there is a feeling of toxemia.
• Antibiotics in cases of sore throat are only required if associated with pain in the throat while swallowing food or red angry–looking tonsils.
• Except for paracetamol or nimesulide, other anti fever medicines should not be used indiscriminately as they can reduce platelet count.
• Most diseases are self–limiting and take 4 to 7 days to resolve.
• The basic precaution involves proper hydration, especially on the days when fever is subsiding.

Warning signals
Any fever with associated comorbid conditions should not be ignored and the doctor should be consulted