Dengue Fever treatment

[thaisail]

My Thai wife, our 10 year old daughter and I have dengue fever only a few days apart. My daughter spent 2 nights at Vachira Hospital in Phuket with IV and was released when her platelets count went back up. My wife started her dengue fever during the last hospital night stay. She has been treated as an out patient and has has blood tests done on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Based on the blood test and her symptoms the doctor has determined that she along with our daughter are now in the recovery phase and no longer require testing.

 

I started my fever on Tuesday and got my blood tested on Thursday with dengue negative result but the platelets count low. A blood test was ordered for Friday and I could not go. It is now Sunday and I am into Day 5 of fever, headache and other dengue symptoms. I am planning to do the recommended blood test tomorrow Monday.

 

This my 3rd dengue.

No. 1 in Belize in 1981.

No. 2 in Phuket 2 years ago. I spent 3 nights on IV drip at Bangkok Hospital. I made full recovery at home in about 10 days.

 

This time no health insurance and I can't afford the blood test at 1300 baht each (free for Thai wife and daughter).

 

I have read on line that papaya leaf extract has recently been tested for dengue fever with some mixed results. My first question is where can one find this product in Phuket? It seems to be easily available in Malaysia now.

 

2nd, I would like to know if there are any others out there who have tried this treatment?

 

3rd, I really want to know if their are only 4 strains of this virus, can one be infected twice the same strain? My doctor at Vachira claims that it is possible to get Dengue No. 1 two times but that the 2nd time it would be less severe.

 

4th, why is it that each time I get Dengue it is becoming more and more severe?

 

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[Sheryl]

1. What is expensive is the antibody and antigen tests. the platlet count is dirt cheap and it is the platlet count that is most essential. You need an actual count not what you seem to have gotten so far .

 

The antibody tests have no clinical utility as it takes time for the antibodies to form.The antigen test (NS1) has more use diagnostically (will be positive early, and can indicate severity) but still no  real clinical utility as a positive test without drop in platlets will not alter treatment.

 

So  if funds are short, just monitor the platlet count. Which is what we did in the not so distant pass before these other tests became available. It can be done at a lab in town if you want to avoid the waits, and it will be easier to specify at a private lab that this is all you want. Road to Saphan Hin, left side, just before you get to the red light intersection which has left turn towards Robinsons.

 

2. Papaya leaf: this is not a recent finding. What it is, is one single anecdotal report from  decades ago involving just a few patients and there has never been any scientific testing of it. What happened is that it has "propagated" online because people keep searching for "natural" remedies for dengue and that is all that comes up, then they repeat it on their sites and so it starts to pop up more and takes on a life of its own, seeming new and large and well proven It is none of these. If you want to mash up papaya leaves and consume, easy enough to do but personally I would not bother.

 

3. There are 5 serotypes, fifth just recently discovered. AFAIK you will not get type 1 twice.

 

4. Severity of dengue varies enormously even among people infected for the first time. As with any disease several factors are at play: the innoculative dose (amount of virus injected by the bite/number of bites) and host factors (strength of  immune system and general healtg).  You should also be aware that there are several diseases that are clinically indistinguishable from dengue, e.g. chikungunya. Until very recently here was no testing to confirm diagnosis. So it is entirely possible your 1981 bout was not dengue but chikungunya or similiar.

[thaisail]

1. What is expensive is the antibody and antigen tests. the platlet count is dirt cheap and it is the platlet count that is most essential. You need an actual count not what you seem to have gotten so far .
 
The antibody tests have no clinical utility as it takes time for the antibodies to form.The antigen test (NS1) has more use diagnostically (will be positive early, and can indicate severity) but still no  real clinical utility as a positive test without drop in platlets will not alter treatment.
 
So  if funds are short, just monitor the platlet count. Which is what we did in the not so distant pass before these other tests became available. It can be done at a lab in town if you want to avoid the waits, and it will be easier to specify at a private lab that this is all you want. Road to Saphan Hin, left side, just before you get to the red light intersection which has left turn towards Robinsons.
 
2. Papaya leaf: this is not a recent finding. What it is, is one single anecdotal report from  decades ago involving just a few patients and there has never been any scientific testing of it. What happened is that it has "propagated" online because people keep searching for "natural" remedies for dengue and that is all that comes up, then they repeat it on their sites and so it starts to pop up more and takes on a life of its own, seeming new and large and well proven It is none of these. If you want to mash up papaya leaves and consume, easy enough to do but personally I would not bother.
 
3. There are 5 serotypes, fifth just recently discovered. AFAIK you will not get type 1 twice.
 
4. Severity of dengue varies enormously even among people infected for the first time. As with any disease several factors are at play: the innoculative dose (amount of virus injected by the bite/number of bites) and host factors (strength of  immune system and general healtg).  You should also be aware that there are several diseases that are clinically indistinguishable from dengue, e.g. chikungunya. Until very recently here was no testing to confirm diagnosis. So it is entirely possible your 1981 bout was not dengue but chikungunya or similiar.

Thank you Sheryl, I live in Chalong so it would be nice to find a lab nearby. Can you give the name of the lab near Saphan Hin? Do you think they will be open on Sunday?

Here is the study that I found about Papaya Leaf Extract. It seems to be from a credible source. We made our own from our own tree last night and mixed with honey and lemon. It might be a placebo, but I feel a little bit better today.

https://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4661/rr-4#

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[Sheryl]

Don't know the lab name or its hours, sorry - may try a post in Phuket forum?