There are 5 types of dengue, but the most common types in Brazil are dengue type 1, 2 and 3, while dengue type 4 is more common in Costa Rica and Venezuela dengue type 5 in Asia. All 5 types of dengue generate the same symptoms, which include high fever, headache, pain in the back of the eyes and extreme tiredness.
The danger of being contaminated with dengue more than once is that when a person has had dengue of one type and is contaminated with another type of dengue there is a greater risk of developing dengue hemorrhagic fever. The hemorrhagic dengue is related to the exaggerated reaction of the organism to the virus and therefore the second exposure is more serious and can lead to internal hemorrhage and death if left untreated.
Some common doubts related to the types of dengue are:
1. What are the differences between the types of dengue?
All types of dengue are caused by the same virus, however, there are 5 small variations of this same virus. These differences are so small that they cause the same disease, with the same symptoms and the same forms of treatment. However, type 3, which is the most common in Brazil in the last 15 years, is the most virulent, which means that it causes symptoms a little stronger than the others.
2. When did the types of dengue occur in Brazil?
Although a new dengue epidemic appears every year, most of the time it is the same type of dengue. In Brazil the types of dengue exist are:
- Type 1: emerged in Brazil in 1986
- Type 2: emerged in Brazil in 1990
- Type 3: emerged in Brazil in 2000, being the most common until 2016
- Type 4: emerged in Brazil in 2010 in the state of Roraima
Dengue type 5 has never been registered in the national territory, being found only in Asia.
3. Are the symptoms of dengue type 1, 2 and 3 different?
No. The symptoms of dengue are always the same, but whenever the person gets dengue more than once the symptoms become more intense because there is a risk of dengue hemorrhagic fever. So everyone should do everything possible to avoid the reproduction of the dengue mosquito, avoiding all outbreaks of standing water.
4. Can I have dengue more than once?
Yes. Each person can get dengue up to 4 times in a lifetime because each type of dengue, DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, DENV-4 and DENV-5 refers to a different virus and, therefore, when the person gets type 1 dengue, develops immunity and is no longer contaminated with this virus, but if it is bitten by the dengue type 2 mosquito, it will again develop the disease and in this case, the risk of developing dengue hemorrhagic fever is greater.
5. Can I have 2 types of dengue at the same time?
It would not be impossible, but very unlikely because it would have to be circulating in the same region 2 different types of dengue and this is extremely rare and so there have not been cases like this.
