CARICA PAPAYA: A BOTANICAL TREATMENT FOR PATIENTS WITH DENGUE VIRUS INFECTION

Dengue is a mosquito borne viral disease caused any one of four closely related but antigenically distinct flavovirus serotypes, DENV 1 through 4. Its spectrum ranges from asymptomatic infection to dengue fever (DF), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), and dengue shock syndrome (DSS), and may lead to patient death. It is known that the platelet count drops in dengue patients after the first three days of fever and the gradually increases after the seventh day or drop further with derangement of other clotting factors to develop into dengue hemorrhagic state [1]. Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF), a potentially lethal complication, was first recognized in the 1950s during dengue epidemics in the Philippines and Thailand. Dengue fever is now an international public health concern, affecting individuals from countries even where the disease is not prevalent, especially spread by global travellers from endemic areas to non-endemic areas [2]. Despite the advancement of knowledge and technology in the field of medicine, no sure cure or vaccine has yet been devised to combat the dengue virus, which has the ability to create a viral epidemic of epic proportions. The aim of this review is to capture the progress made in elucidating the botanical compounds responsible for anti-DENV activity of Carica papaya.