Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever

Aedes Mosquito

Just when I wrote about the vector-borne diseases in the previous articles on climate change that I recalled on the tragedy happen to my colleague (close friend) few years ago. His name is Al (not his real name) and he joins the company 1 year earlier than me. Before me he is consider a junior there, but since after I join he is rated as a senior;). Despite the seniority, both me and Al get along together well because he is a friendly guy. We communicate in English – the language we both fluent with, because he only knows Mandarin and I only knows Cantonese(I’m a banana-yellow exterior with white interior, that’s what people called a Chinese that is non Chinese educated. All Chinese educated individuals would be able to speak mandarin, because schools teach in Mandarin). We working in the same shift, where we will regularly go out for break together, not always due to work constrain. One day, he suggested a joint venture to create a 3D game – I agreed and we’ve brought all the material needed to create 3D characters like tutorials and software.

3 weeks of learning and discussion goes on and suddenly he fall sick. Having fever for 3 days and taking medical leaves. When he came back to work, he looks a bit tired with no moods and energy like he always had. When I asked, he told me that he’s been fever on and off for a week (we work on shift, where we will have 3 days off and 3days work – that’s why if he took 3days MC, calculating from off days before and after working period, it is a total of 9 days off). I asked him whether did he go to clinic or not – he says he did went for clinic and given him 3 days MC but he became his own doctor after he finished the medication and the fever still occurring on and off. He is taking normal panadol hoping the fever will go off, but it is still the same. I advice him to better consult the doctor again and see what the doctor will do next, but he insist and said that he will be fine taking the panadol.

The next day I came to work and got to know he is on MC again. I thought that maybe he take my advice and go to the clinic for further check-up. In the afternoon, we received a call from his wife saying that he had pass away;(. I stunned for a few minutes and I can’t seems to accept the fact that my best friend pass away so young and he just get married few months ago, with a bright future awaits him. I and other colleagues went to the hospital to see his body at the morgue. It really shocks me further when locker was opened – his body was wrapped with a white cloth full of blood and the mortician said that the blood still coming out and he have to wrap the body with few cloths, so it won’t spill out.

Seeing his condition really makes me sad and speechless. The wife said that he suddenly fell unconscious in the morning and rushed to the nearby hospital. When reached, it is already too late – bloods come out from every part of his body non-stop. A blood test shows that he is diagnosed with Dengue hemorrhagic fever.

Dengue hemorrhagic Fever

Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a potentially deadly virus spread by Aedes mosquitoes. It will potentially occur to a person whom infected in dengue fever before. There are four different viruses known to cause dengue hemorrhagic fever - DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4. The symptoms are the same as normal dengue fever, early symptoms include; less appetite, headache, vomiting, joint aches, sour throat, nausea, abdominal pain and fever.

Treatment

There is no medication to cure Dengue hemorrhagic fever nor there vaccine to prevent it. Treatment may be to treat the symptoms.

·         Transfusion of blood or platelets to correct bleeding problems

·         Electrolyte replacement solution or fruit juice is preferable to plain water

·         Rehydration with intravenous (IV) fluids is often necessary to treat dehydration

There is no choice for us to prevent from having the virus and there is no vaccine to keep us safe from it too. All we can do is awareness. We need to know the symptoms and try to relate the sign every time when we have fever for more than 2 days. This does not applies to hemorrhagic fever only, it is also applies to normal dengue too. The best is to consult your doctor – tell the doctor your symptoms and concern and let the doctor advice us on what to do. Don’t be your own doctor, as it is a dangerous move and it could be fatal. I am very sad about my friend’s death and I want to share it out to let people aware that there are not only one kind of dengue existed.

Be more alert if you staying in the hotspot place where frequent cases of dengue are reported. Do not leave any space for mosquitoes to breed. To an added advantage, use of personal protection such as blanket, full coverage clothing, netting, insects repellant and if possible be more extra careful when going for outdoor activities. Mosquito abatement programs can also reduce the risk of infection.

It is a very sad experience for me to lose a friend just like this, not to say his family members especially his newly married wife whom lost her husband. Sometimes it will be too late if we act carelessly and I hope the tragedy that happen to my best friend would not happen to you. Though we can’t eliminate the possibilities to not get infected, but we sure can be more conscious and act upon what’s right for us. One of the reason I write this is because to let as much people to know about this kind of dengue, because I myself never heard of it when I first encounter it.