Delayed hospital admission and unsafe painkillers worsening dengue complications, doctor warns

Patients with dengue are developing serious complications after delaying hospital treatment and taking unsafe painkillers, consultant physician Dr Ananda Wijewickrama warned.

Wijewickrama said some patients were seeking hospital care only after their condition had become severe.

He said many people wrongly assumed they were recovering when their fever subsided after four or five days. However, this period could coincide with the critical phase of dengue, when complications such as plasma leakage, shock and internal bleeding may develop.

“Some patients remain at home because the fever has gone down, even after being advised to undergo another blood test,” he said. “By the time they reach hospital, serious complications may already have developed.”

Wijewickrama warned that delayed admission made treatment more difficult and, in some cases, reduced doctors’ ability to save the patient.

He also urged patients and doctors to avoid painkillers such as ibuprofen, diclofenac and mefenamic acid when dengue was suspected.

These medicines can increase the risk of bleeding and other complications. Steroid medicines should also be avoided unless they are required for a separate medical condition, he said.

Wijewickrama described a recent case in which an elderly woman with dengue was admitted after vomiting blood. She had previously been given painkillers that should not be used in suspected dengue cases.

He said patients had the right to ask what medicines they were being given, particularly during the current outbreak.

People with fever should use paracetamol for pain and temperature control, drink adequate fluids, rest and obtain medical advice, he said. They should also undergo a full blood count after about two days of fever and repeat the test when advised.

Wijewickrama stressed that a reduction in fever did not necessarily mean the danger had passed.

Hospital admission should be based on clinical assessment, blood-test results and warning signs rather than the presence of fever alone, he said.

The warning comes as hospitals, particularly in the Western Province, face growing pressure from the rising number of dengue patients.