Dengue fever outbreak?

[fester]

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP): Thailand faces a possible outbreak of the sometimes-fatal dengue fever, the Public Health Ministry has warned.

The ministry recorded an unusually high number of cases during the winter -- generally considered a low-risk period for the disease -- and said people were becoming lax in taking preventative measures against mosquitoes, which spread dengue fever.

"Prevention would be an approach for this year as there is a sign that dengue fever will spread faster than ever,'' Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said in a statement received Monday.

The statement said 6,654 dengue fever cases were recorded in November -- twice the number from the same period in 1998, when the disease made a major comeback in Thailand.

November is in the dry season and considered a low-risk month for the spread of the dengue virus. With the rainy season approaching, the situation can only get worse, the ministry statement said.

Open water containers and trash dumps where water collects provide an ideal breeding ground for the mosquitos that carry the dengue virus.

At least 171 people died out of 105,842 who contracted the flu-like fever last year, the statement said.

Sudarat said provincial officials nationwide have been told to carry out weekly programs to eliminate mosquito larvae. Doctors will also receive training to diagnose the disease, and will be informed that the virus is now striking more adults. It affected mainly children in the past.

Siriphen Kalayanaruj, head of the Dengue Fever Center, said the disease has become common in all age groups.

"In Bangkok alone, 47 percent of the patients are adults. The problem is doctors hardly think of dengue fever when diagnosing an adult because it's mostly found in children,'' Siriphen said.

Source: AP

Jan 20, 2003

[fester]

A quick look on the 'net says:

Typical symptoms for less severe forms of the disease include fevers, aches and pains. Skin rashes are also commonly experienced after the fourth day of fever.

A more serious form of the disease, hemorrhagic dengue fever, is accompanied by bleeding from the nose and gums and can have a mortality rate of up to 50 percent in the absence of medical treatment.

[LordHawHaw]

Bad disease.  When in doubt, seek medical advice.  Don't be afraid to go back for more the next day!

Case in point: a Thai boy I knew, about three-four years old, had fever and flu symptoms.  Boy, was this poor little tyke sick!  I took him and his mom to Bumrungrad Hospital, the kid was seen, given pills, and sent home.  Diagnosis: "flu."  He got sicker.  The next day, his mother, without my knowledge, took the boy to a little clinic somewhere, and the doc there scraped the boy's arm sharply and showed mom how the blood was literally bursting out of the capillaries.  Ugh.  More pills, and then home, where the kid was really, really sick for a couple of days.  It was horrible watching him suffer!

I was outraged and stormed into Bumrungrad wanting to know what the hel_l they thought they were doing, why their expensive care was so useless, etc etc.  They would not meet with me face to face, but put a physician on the telephone to me (!) who told me that hemorrhagic fever is hard to diagnose, and yes, it could be that one day in the progress of the disease would make the difference between knowing it was Bad and thinking it was just flu.

What does a layman say to that?

Moral of the story: boy, does this disease ever make you sick, and you better keep after the doctors if you think you have it so you get the right treatment.  Don't be shy about going back!!

Oh, yeah, one other moral: if you get mad at the Thais, they don't want to be in the same room with you.