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Saturday, January 7, 2012

Dangerous Dengue Awareness

Twice had my family been threatened by the deadly dengue virus.  And both had never been easy for us.  I remember my youngest brother was already vomiting blood when we rushed him to the hospital.  Back in the early 90's, dengue wasn't that known so we really didn't know the symptoms and procedures that we must have taken.  As I recall, our parents had a hard time looking for blood to be transfused to him since he had a unique blood type.  It was truly by the Lord's grace that they  found a donor and my brother survived.

The second person was my dear daughter.  You just can't imagine how I wanted to take her place.  I always begged her to eat and drink and not to vomit them.  I even remembered crying while asking her to help herself to get well.  We  immediately brought her to the hospital but still we couldn't help ourselves  from worrying... she is our only daughter. We were really scared of the possibilities especially when she was already transfused with plasma and at the same time a medicine was already needed to help keep her blood pressure to normal level.  Never would I want that experience to happen again.

Just recently, a family member of an office mate just died recently because of dengue, so I'm making this post to at least provide information and hope that it would help.

Be informed of what you're dealing with.  Dengue fever also referred to as breakbone fever, is a virus infection brought about by an Aedes aegypti mosquito bite to people who have weak immune system.  Classic signs may include high grade fever without any focus for infection (i.e. respiratory track infection, urinary track infection, etc.), headache, poor appetite, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles which usually appear at day 3-4. If not treated early, the disease can progress into a life threatening Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever characterized by bleeding, low levels of platelet and blood plasma leakage. Or it can further progress to the most dreaded stage, Dengue Shock Syndrome where a dangerously low blood pressure occurs.


Prevention is better than cure.  We already know that the culprits are the mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) which carries the deadly dengue virus.  One way of preventing them from propagating is cleaning our surroundings to avoid stagnant water where these mosquitoes could lay their eggs.

We can also put safety measures for us and our children by applying insect repellents and/or installing devices that attracts and kills mosquitoes.

Time Caution.  Still under prevention, you should be extra careful in doing outdoor activities especially during daytime for this is when dengue mosquitoes usually bite, but they also seldom bite at night when their breeding place is disturbed.

Fever Alarm.  If you are not that familiar with the underline symptoms, a mere high grade fever (38  ̊C and above) lasting for 3 days warrants a medical consult to rule out dengue fever and other life threatening diseases.

Just to be sure.  There's nothing wrong if you want to feel at ease with your child or family member's condition because you can always request for a test specifically to determine dengue fever which is usually offered at tertiary hospitals in your city.

Knowing the cure. Treatment of dengue fever is oral or intravenous rehydration for mild or moderate cases. Blood transfusion becomes necessary when there is already bleeding episodes and the platelet gets too low.  Some suggests that "tawa-tawa", durian and other locally found natural plants and fruits may help boost immune system and help treatment, but these are not yet medically proven.  So you're using it at your own risk.

When talking about the health, safety and for the good of our loved one's there is no compromise.  We cannot take any risk that may put their life at stake.   Well, money is just money, and we can always look for it... so don't try to be thrifty especially in seeking treatment, for you might spend more when the illness worsens or worst, you lose your loved one, God forbid.  But if you  have done everything, and still it failed, don't lose hope... there is still the most powerful tool... and that is PRAYER.  Don't ever forget that the Lord has everything in His hands and He always listens. Have a healthful and faithful life everyone.  Yahweh bless.

34 comments:

  1. thanks Ralph for sharing. This deadly mosquito bite has driven the East crazy and has killed scores of people..

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  2. Oh dear. Dengue? Again? I just wish the vaccine Sanofi is working on becomes available for public consumption soon.

    Shield Your Family Against Dengue

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  3. now I know how to combat this. This is one great awareness blog. this makes me think twice now about mosquitos.

    thanks for this post bro. God bless

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  4. I hate mosquitoes. When I live in the Philippines. I always make sure there is no stagnant water in our house or in the neighbourhood. Cleaning is the cheapest and only solutions for dengue mosquitoes.

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  5. this is very much similar to my younger brother's case back in 1990 when he died at the age of 7 due to malaria falciparum... i would like to thank u Ralph for sharing this saving life info.... God bless!

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  6. Dengue aka Aedes aegypti is life threatening. They usually breed in clean water but there was an evolution according to scientist they now breed in dirty stock water. So make sure to always empty water containers if you're not going to use them.

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  7. My daughter spent a week in the hospital because of dengue. Dengue is not specific to the poor as well. I've seen many rich kids get sick from it.

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  8. The key to dengue treatment is prompt diagnosis.

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  9. iba talaga pag anak ang may sakit, kung pwede lang tayo na lang. my nephew had dengue twice and thank God he survived. i always use organic insect repellant just to be safe.

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  10. I know using insect killer is not an ideal preventive measure but I try not to run out of it at all times - the only convenient way i know of ridding those deadly mosquitoes. Well, other than keeping the surroundings clean of course.

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  11. a big thank you for sharing this. it is very helpful.

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  12. One of my daughters almost died of dengue...she was miraculously healed. Her name's Myrrh Raquel, by the way as she has gone through many miraculous events in her life, from conception.

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  13. me too i hate dengue.. we need to always check our place to free from it.

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  14. I got dengue back in 2005, and I almost died. By God's grace, I survived it and didn't even need a blood donor. I also got tagged with malaria, but I thank the Lord that He healed me.

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  15. Thanks for making the people aware with Dengue. This is a serious case. The treatment is just simple BUT dapat maagapan. The ultimate way to stop this is to maintain cleanliness sa ating kapaligiran. :)

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  16. I'm very much traumatized by dengue. Back when i was still in high school, several schoolmates died because of dengue. I saw one of them turn black all over because of this. :(

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  17. No one in our family had dengue but I have friends who experienced having someone stricken with the dreaded disease. It was difficult for the victim and the family. It is best to be aware of how to prevent the disease.

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  18. tnx for posting dis, alam ko wla pang cure s dengue kaya doble yngat sa lamok...

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  19. I have come across with a practical cure of this life-threatening disease carried by a mosquito called as the Aedes aegypti. I will try to find and post it in my blog sometime. Anyway, it is always better to be clean and be ready for any eventually in case a dengue carrier mosquito will strike your kid, even then adult is not exempted.

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  20. Thanks! Never pa ako nagka dengue, hope di ko siya ma experience ever. Takot pa naman ako sa dugo.

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  21. My sister had dengue before. We were all scared and worried. Good thing it was detected early. We should maintain cleanliness and make sure our kids have their mosquito repellent applied before they leave the house especially on the rainy days..
    And I'm happy to know that you're family's okay now.. :)

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  22. Di pa ako nagkaka-dengue at ayaw ko. I've heard some who had this, nakakaawa talaga sila, hinang-hina sila e.

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  23. I hope that it won't strike your family again. I donated blood before when there was a child who needed B+ blood.

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  24. thanks for this post, awareness is the key

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  25. my mom also incurred dengue and we got so scared good thing that she recovered too

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  26. sadly, one of our batchmates died because of this at a very early age of 21. that is why it's always a good way to have an earlier checkup rather getting passed the symptoms for a few days thinking that it was only mild. in the end, everyone was shocked because we still saw here days before she died in school...tsk

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  27. Thanks for the info... I was a dengue victim 2 years ago...

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  28. buti maayos ang immune system ko. delikado talaga ang dengue.

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  29. Pumapanic ako pag anak ko ang nagkakasakit. Kailangan talaga alert tayo sa prevention kasi nga it's better than cure. And enough info importante rin para alam natin anong gawin.

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  30. Ako din nagkadengue noon... was 5 or 6 ata... had to stay for 2 weeks in the hospital and the IV was moved na to my feet kasi both arms got swollen na sa tagal.. thankfully I survived. this post is very informative.


    Much support, Christia
    _______
    Savouring Didi’s Pizza from Christia's World

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  31. Grabe talaga ang dengue, let's not take it for granted. Mahal magpagamot, worse... kung maging critical. So let's keep our surroundings clean and make it a point to do preventive action. Thanks to your article, many should be aware of how seriously bad dengue is.

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  32. Thankfully your daughter is better now, as is your brother. This Dengue sounds a lot like La Crosse encephalitis which is also brought on by a mosquito bite here in the midwestern US. I worked as a one on one aide to an individual that was bitten by a mosquito carrying this virus and he almost died from it. The fevers caused traumatic brain injury leaving him with epilepsy and no short term memory (antero-grade amnesia). He was only when he was bitten and was sick with it for several weeks-but I worked with him when he was 22-23 years old and he still thought he was 14. The only good thing was he had such a wonderful family support despite his disability from the situation.

    Excellent information on Dengue. I looked up that it is found in tropical mosquitoes which we do not have here...but really great information incase I ever travel. Cheers, Jenn.

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  33. everyone should be aware about this fatal "fever" - thank God hindi ako tinatamaan - everyone should take care and strengthen their immune system...

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  34. Dengue is indeed very scary. Thank God not one in our family had experienced it yet. Back in high school and even in college, most of my classmates and even friends had to suffer from Dengue.. >.< Anyway, thanks for sharing these useful info.

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