Viral hemorrhagic fevers are infectious diseases that can cause life-threatening illness. The symptoms can be mild or severe. They are so harmful that they can damage the walls of tiny blood vessels such that they will begin to leak and hamper the blood's ability to clot. This further causes internal bleeding that is not life-threatening, but the diseases of viral hemorrhagic fevers include:
Ebola
Lassa
Marburg
Yellow fever
These diseases usually affect people living in tropical areas. There is no cure for viral hemorrhagic fevers. There are vaccines and ways to prevent the few types. Let's know about the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and prevention methods of viral hemorrhagic fevers.
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers: Signs & Symptoms
According to Cleveland Clinic, here are a few signs and symptoms of viral hemorrhagic fevers that may vary by disease:
Fever
Fatigue
Dizziness
Muscle, bone, or joint aches
Nausea and vomiting
Diarrhea
Internal Bleeding
Nervous system malfunctions
Coma
Delirium
Kidney failure
Respiratory failure
Liver failure
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers: Causes
According to doctors of the Mayo Clinic, viral hemorrhagic fevers are spread when a person comes in contact with infected animals or insects. The viruses that can cause viral hemorrhagic fevers live in a variety of animal and insect hosts, commonly the hosts include mosquitoes, ticks, rodents, or bats. Some viral hemorrhagic fevers can even spread from one person to another.
Some viral hemorrhagic fevers are spread by mosquito or tick bites while other types are spread by contact with infected body fluids like blood, saliva, or semen. It can also affect a person who has recently traveled to a place where hemorrhagic fever is common. Depending on the type of virus, it can take from 2 to 21 days for symptoms to develop.
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers: Prevention
According to Healthline, here are a few ways you can prevent viral hemorrhagic fevers though preventing viral hemorrhagic fevers can be challenging.
Avoid traveling to places where Viral hemorrhagic fevers are common.
Even if you travel or work in areas where these diseases are common, use appropriate protective barriers to avoid coming in contact with blood or body fluids. Wear gloves and eye and face shields.
Try handling, disinfection, and disposal of lab specimens and waste carefully.
You can ask your doctor if you can take the yellow fever vaccine which is usually safe and effective. The yellow fever vaccine isn't for children younger than 9 months of age or pregnant women.
You can also take the Ebola vaccination that protects against one type of Ebola.
Try avoiding disease-spreading insects while traveling in areas where there are outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers.
Wear light-colored long pants and long-sleeved shirts, and permethrin-coated clothing.
Avoid going outside at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active, and apply mosquito repellent with a 20% to 25% concentration of DEET.
You will also need to keep rodents away by covering the pet food or using rodent-proof containers, disposing of garbage regularly, using tightfitting screens on doors and windows, and storing woodpiles, and stacks of bricks at least 100 feet from your house.
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