Today my daughter discharged from Seremban Specialist Hospital. She was there for 5 days due to high fever - initial suspected as dengue fever. Thanks God, it isn’t dengue; her blood has been infected by bacteria.

What is dengue?

According to World Health Organization (WHO), dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with any one of the four dengue viruses. It occurs in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. Symptoms appear 3-14 days after the infective bite. Dengue fever is a febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults.

Symptoms range from a mild fever, to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rash. There are no specific antiviral medicines for dengue. It is important to maintain hydration. Use of acetylsalicylic acid (e.g. aspirin) and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g. Ibuprofen) is not recommended.

Dengue haemorrhagic fever (fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding) is a potentially lethal complication, affecting mainly children. Early clinical diagnosis and careful clinical management by experienced physicians and nurses increase survival of patients.

The Aedes mosquito breeds in clear and stagnant water, such as flower vases, uncovered barrels, buckets, and discarded tires.

The Malaysian government has been holding campaigns to educate the public as well as conduct checks on residential and construction sites in efforts to stem the steady rise in dengue cases.

However, despite the efforts, the number of cases and deaths continue to rise each year. From January to March 2008, a total of 9,889 people were diagnosed with dengue and 26 (0.26%) of them died. Scary huh?

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