The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown a wrench in the cycle of viral infections that are our old acquaintances, such as flu (influenza) and the dengue. Infectious disease specialists even named the situation as the “pandemonium of viruses”.
In general, viruses appeared more intensely at certain times, and the vaccination schedule was made according to this seasonality. Covid-19 has turned this upside down.
In addition to a change in incidence peaks, cases of co-infection: when a person catches flu and dengue fever at the same time, and may even contract Covid-19, in a rare but possible case of triple infection.
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This is what is happening at this time when Brazil is experiencing a dengue outbreak and the beginning of the flu season at the same time. The national flu vaccination campaign was brought forward and has already started in most Brazilian states, at the same time as dengue vaccination in the 16 states with the highest number of cases.
Flu and dengue co-infection tends, first, to delay diagnosis due to a confusion of symptoms. Fever, malaise, weakness, body pain are common to both diseases and can mask one of the infections. In a second moment, the situation tends to worsen due to the blow to the body’s defenses.
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How to know if I have the flu and dengue
The Ministry of Health is warning the population to seek the nearest health services when noticing more intense symptoms of any of the diseases to take rapid or serological tests. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the signs that indicate more seriousness of each of them.
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In the case of dengue, the warning sign is a high fever, generally above 38.5ºC, intense pain in the joints and behind the eyes, red spots on the body, intense fatigue.
In the case of flu, in addition to fever, typical symptoms include runny nose, sore throat, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, prostration and cough.
Treatment of co-infection
The way to know if you have a co-infection is doing tests to identify the type of virus: whether it is dengue fever, influenza or even Covid-19. For each one, there are specific treatments and medications that should be avoided.
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In the case of dengue, for example, corticosteroid-based medications, anti-inflammatories and acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) should be avoided. Painkillers such as paracetamol are recommended to control fever and malaise in cases of dengue and respiratory viruses.
+Read also: Who with dengue fever cannot take which medicines?
There is also Tamiflu for the case of the influenza virus, and Paxlovid, for cases of mild Covid-19, distributed by the SUS to immunocompromised people and elderly people over 65 to prevent the condition from getting worse.
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