Saturday, October 10, 2009

Getting Over Dengue

My 10-year old daughter Mikaela had been hospitalized because of dengue fever. She had fever for 3 days that started on September 25, 2009, a day before Ondoy. Her body temperature reached 40.On the 3rd day, the temperature dropped, and I thought that she would be okay, but she had fever at night time on that same day again .I decided to bring her to the doctor for a check-up and I was advised to take her to the nearest hospital. My heart broke every time she would undergo CBC. She got blood tests twice a day. And though she doesn’t have fever anymore, her rashes had become more visible on the 4th and 5th day. I was relieved that on the 7th day, October 1, 2009, her platelet count went up. Then we were advised that Mikaela was fine and can now go home.

Dengue fever is caused by viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes. There are four viruses that can cause dengue. Because of this, it is possible to get dengue fever 4 times.


HOW IT IS CONTRACTED

The virus is contracted from the bite of a striped mosquito, Aedes aegypti . The virus is not communicable and cannot be spread directly from person to person.


SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Fever, chills, headache, pain upon moving the eyes, backache, aching in the legs and joints, temperature as high as 40degrees, rashes, and swollen lymph glands.

TREATMENT

There is really no specific medicine to treat it. Rest and enough hydration is the most important thing to do. For headaches, an icepack is the only treatment that the doctor can give as aspirin is not advisable.

The kind of virus that my daughter had contracted is the Typical dengue. It is a weak strain of the virus and is not fatal and does not result to death. The dangerous one is the Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). With DHF, there is spitting up blood, blood spots in the skin, blood in the stool, nosebleeds and bleeding gums, weak pulse, and in worst cases, there is inflammation of the heart.

As there is currently no vaccine available, the only prevention for Dengue is the control of the mosquitoes carrying the virus. Cleanliness of the surroundings comes first. At home we should empty stagnant water from old tires, trash cans, and flower pots. For personal protection, wear long pants and long sleeves and use mosquito repellants.

2 comments:

Crayons n Pencils said...

Hi, I'm sorry about your child having dengue. Grabe no, you can't and wouldn't know if you have it or not, because common colds also have the some of the same symptoms. And if a child has it, you wouldn't even know because children can't tell what's happening, all they know is they're not feeling well. But I'm glad that your daughter survived. I hope she don't get it again.

Enchie said...

Im sorry to know that your little one suffered from Dengue. But now, everything is okay... I hope she gets better pa.

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