Explainer: Which fever says what?

Turali is a soulful teenage boy of thirteen who has been staying at home since the closure of his school due to the Covid -19 pandemic.

His father is a middle-aged businessman who runs an errand for his own works and also for looking after relatives often.

Suddenly both of them had fever.

Gloom came over home. Halima, mother of Turali and a housewife, got utterly distressed to make out what to do in this crisis period of the pandemic.

But she got some knowledge on fever as it is now a common manifestation of two damn ailments -- Covid-19 and dengue -- and Dhaka is a hotbed for both of them.

She carefully noticed their fever pattern and symptoms. She knew that dengue should be suspected in persons living in or recent travel to a dengue-endemic zone.

Dengue patients experience a prodrome of chills, erythematous mottling of skin and facial flushing ( a sensitive and specific indicator of dengue fever) which may be accompanied by a maculopapular rash.

Classic dengue fever begins with sudden onset of fever, chills and a severe (termed break bone) aching of head, back and extremities as well as other symptoms which lasts 2-7 days and may reach 41°C.

Pain & other accompanying symptoms may include any of the followings: fever, headache, retro-orbital pain, generalised body pain, nausea - vomiting, rash, weakness, anorexia and sore throat.

Occasionally and more commonly in children, the fever abates for a day then returns, a pattern called saddleback fever.

On the other hand, common symptoms of Covid include fever, cough and shortness of breath as well as malaise and respiratory distress. The following symptoms may indicate Covid -19: fever or chills, cough, difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body ache, headache, new loss of taste and smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea - vomiting, diarrhoea. The most common serious manifestation of Covid -19 appears to be pneumonia.

A complete or partial loss of the sense of smell (anosmia) has been reported a potential history finding in patients eventually diagnosed with Covid-19.

Pondering on these factors and fever patterns Halime got ease to take her decision. She kept the father and son apart as their symptoms matched differently. She asked her husband to remain isolated wearing masks even at home and she herself also put on masks while waiting on him and arranged lab tests to confirm her suspicion.

Eventually, her husband was diagnosed with Covid-19. They took necessary measures from the very beginning and he recovered well.

Fortunately, Turali was diagnosed with the common cold. Likewise, Halime if we go over the disease features being a little careful we might also be able to read which fever says what and what to do accordingly.

So, let us get informed and act smart and proactive in health issues.

The writer is an assistant registrar of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He can be reached at [email protected].