There is no specific medicine available in conventional treatment for Dengue. The key to effective recovery is the optimum use of supportive measures like:
- Fluid replacement: Here, care needs to be taken to avoid overloading of fluids.
- Anti-pyretics: Medicines like paracetamol are given to reduce high temperature. However, it is best to restrict the use of NSAIDs like Ibuprofen and Diclofenac because they can induce plasma leakage from capillaries and aggravate the patient's condition.
- Analgesics: Paracetamol can double as a painkiller for the excruciating body pains of Dengue. However, most patients do not find complete relief from pain even temporarily.
- Blood transfusion: A blood transfusion or specifically platelet transfusion is the measure of choice in treatment for Dengue when the patient presents late in the disease, at a time when platelets have fallen to considerably low levels (having < 20,000 platelets/cumm is considered high-risk).
