Dengue Is Here

[ChiangMaiFun]

Now the question begs; what exactly do we put in stale water to kill the eggs? Can I put bleach in there? What should I do? I have some decorative vase and a small cement pond that are of concern to me.

If you keep vases or little ponds with plants in them then you have 2 options. (1) You can put a few small guppies and they eat up the the eggs or larvae (not sure which). (2) I stayed at a GH for awhile several years ago and instead of using fish, she preferred to put some special sand (I think) in her very large vase pots to kill the eggs or larvae. I don't remember where she bought this.

For many years thai health department have been dispensed the Abate sand (1 % Temephos (Abate) sand ) to put in the still water containers to stop the breeding of mosquitoes.

You may find this at most of the chemist/local medical institutes.

all very well... but why not educate and encourage stopping using these breeding grounds? I have seen them with guppies and still see the Mozzies flying around - it's senseless

[PMNL]

Now the question begs; what exactly do we put in stale water to kill the eggs? Can I put bleach in there? What should I do? I have some decorative vase and a small cement pond that are of concern to me.

I really wish Thai's (and some farangs) would get over their liking for standing water - it's everywhere - bowls full of dead (ish) water with tons of Mozzies flying around - and feral pigeons bathing in them - it would help just to not have these breeding sources all over town.

I'm nearly over of my Dengue thing (thank Buddha!) my white blood cells dropped below the 100,000 mark - and the other thing I really noticed was wet bed sheets every morning - and the smell - quite revolting - you could almost scrape the sweat off - it was not 'normal' everyday sweat but a sticky, cold slime almost. That and exhaustion - zero energy whilst the body fought it.

All I could do was sleep, take vitamins drink liters of pure water - drink vegetable soup and... wait. Horrible.

They say if you get a strain - it's unlikely you will get it again? is this correct (or wishful thinking?).

I think you meant to say the platelets dropped down below 100,000, the white blood cell count in dengue fever is normally lower than 5,000 with lymphocyte predominate.

Drinking water is good to rehydrate yourself but electrolyte fluid is better in order to keep sufficient fluid in the body circulation system.

High dose vitamin C and other medication such as anti-nuasea tab is good as symptomatic treatment.

If anyone has high fever for a few days with headache, body aching without any specific source of infection, it might be it. Go see your doctor and get some blood test done.

You may just get the complete blood count to screen whether it is likely to be dengue fever or you may get Dengue IgM for the specific test indicating recent infection ( normally after day 5 of fever to get positive results)

Once you get infected with one strain it is unlikely to get it again but it does not mean you will not get any other strain cos there are plenty of them.

It is a simple disease to contain if you know what you are dealing with and get appropiate advise and treatment.

[Thaihog]

Slightly off topic, if anybody hasn't got medical insurance I suggest you get it now.

I'm currently in Chiang Mai Ram for a Pulmonary Embolism and in my 5 days to date I've run up a bill of 74K baht.

The Ram is getting very expensive these days, thankfully I have insurance.

Stay healthy :jap:

I was thinking about insurance - can you supply details? PM if you're not comfortable posting it on here - company? prices? many thanks

I currently use BUPA http://www.bupa.co.th/bupa_cms/en/home.aspx They have an office on the super highway near Wot Jed Yot.

I'm currently paying 46K baht per year for their Platinum Plan which gives me coverage up to 5 million baht.

[ChiangMaiFun]

Slightly off topic, if anybody hasn't got medical insurance I suggest you get it now.

I'm currently in Chiang Mai Ram for a Pulmonary Embolism and in my 5 days to date I've run up a bill of 74K baht.

The Ram is getting very expensive these days, thankfully I have insurance.

Stay healthy :jap:

I was thinking about insurance - can you supply details? PM if you're not comfortable posting it on here - company? prices? many thanks

I currently use BUPA http://www.bupa.co.t...ms/en/home.aspx They have an office on the super highway near Wot Jed Yot.

I'm currently paying 46K baht per year for their Platinum Plan which gives me coverage up to 5 million baht.

Thanks - and in your case it has proved value for money - but it does seem a hefty premium.

[daoyai]

Now the question begs; what exactly do we put in stale water to kill the eggs? Can I put bleach in there? What should I do? I have some decorative vase and a small cement pond that are of concern to me.

If you keep vases or little ponds with plants in them then you have 2 options. (1) You can put a few small guppies and they eat up the the eggs or larvae (not sure which). (2) I stayed at a GH for awhile several years ago and instead of using fish, she preferred to put some special sand (I think) in her very large vase pots to kill the eggs or larvae. I don't remember where she bought this.

For many years thai health department have been dispensed the Abate sand (1 % Temephos (Abate) sand ) to put in the still water containers to stop the breeding of mosquitoes.

You may find this at most of the chemist/local medical institutes.

all very well... but why not educate and encourage stopping using these breeding grounds? I have seen them with guppies and still see the Mozzies flying around - it's senseless

If you see the mosquitos flying around a fish infested water container, that is a good thing as they have been attracted there, will lay their eggs and die, the bugs will not reach maturity.... water gardens are not the problem.

[orang37]

... snip ... If anyone has high fever for a few days with headache, body aching without any specific source of infection, it might be it. Go see your doctor and get some blood test done. You may just get the complete blood count to screen whether it is likely to be dengue fever or you may get Dengue IgM for the specific test indicating recent infection ( normally after day 5 of fever to get positive results) Once you get infected with one strain it is unlikely to get it again but it does not mean you will not get any other strain cos there are plenty of them. It is a simple disease to contain if you know what you are dealing with and get appropiate advise and treatment.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun PMNL,

We'd like to add to your wise words that one characteristic of dengue is its very rapid onset, accompanied by fever, as the virii "exponentially explode" in numbers after an incubation period.

In our case we went from feeling quite good to being in a remake of the movie "Night of the Living Dead" in the space of twenty minutes ! At the time we were setting up a computer facilitiy in a private school, and spent the night in a resort next to the school : it was a "night of horror," and when we came down to try and eat breakfast, we were weak and dazed; the resort staff was scared by our appearance.

The issue of whether you can have some immunity to other strains (there are four major serotypes, or strains), after having one strain of dengue, seems to be a subject of argument among scientists. The Wikipedia article on dengue Wikipedia Dengue reports on Halstead's thesis :

"There is significant evidence, originally suggested by S.B. Halstead in the 1970s, that dengue hemorrhagic fever is more likely to occur in patients who have secondary infections by another one of dengue fever's four serotypes. One model to explain this process is known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), which allows for increased uptake and virion replication during a secondary infection with a different strain. Through an immunological phenomenon, known as original antigenic sin, the immune system is not able to adequately respond to the stronger infection, and the secondary infection becomes far more serious.^[27]"

And also reports the hypothesis of "short lived cross-immunity" as possibly being one factor in the varying degrees of dengue from year-to-year.

best, ~o:37;

[Earl]

... snip ... If anyone has high fever for a few days with headache, body aching without any specific source of infection, it might be it. Go see your doctor and get some blood test done. You may just get the complete blood count to screen whether it is likely to be dengue fever or you may get Dengue IgM for the specific test indicating recent infection ( normally after day 5 of fever to get positive results) Once you get infected with one strain it is unlikely to get it again but it does not mean you will not get any other strain cos there are plenty of them. It is a simple disease to contain if you know what you are dealing with and get appropiate advise and treatment.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun PMNL,

We'd like to add to your wise words that one characteristic of dengue is its very rapid onset, accompanied by fever, as the virii "exponentially explode" in numbers after an incubation period.

In our case we went from feeling quite good to being in a remake of the movie "Night of the Living Dead" in the space of twenty minutes ! At the time we were setting up a computer facilitiy in a private school, and spent the night in a resort next to the school : it was a "night of horror," and when we came down to try and eat breakfast, we were weak and dazed; the resort staff was scared by our appearance.

The issue of whether you can have some immunity to other strains (there are four major serotypes, or strains), after having one strain of dengue, seems to be a subject of argument among scientists. The Wikipedia article on dengue Wikipedia Dengue reports on Halstead's thesis :

"There is significant evidence, originally suggested by S.B. Halstead in the 1970s, that dengue hemorrhagic fever is more likely to occur in patients who have secondary infections by another one of dengue fever's four serotypes. One model to explain this process is known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), which allows for increased uptake and virion replication during a secondary infection with a different strain. Through an immunological phenomenon, known as original antigenic sin, the immune system is not able to adequately respond to the stronger infection, and the secondary infection becomes far more serious.^[27]"

And also reports the hypothesis of "short lived cross-immunity" as possibly being one factor in the varying degrees of dengue from year-to-year.

best, ~o:37;

The Original Antigenic Sin occurred when Eve ate the apple thus making all humans vulnerable to dengue fever. Genesis 3:14

[Yunnie]

Sucks that Payap area has a small river and bunch of ponds. And form the rain... theres still water/puddle ponds in front of the dorms. I guess I'll use my repellent lotion and take my electric swatter down when I go to the washing machines, Since no one here is smart enough to CLOSE the washing machine lids after taking their clothes out. It just seems like too much work for them. ;;;;

[eek]

An off topic post deleted

[Chicog]

It seems that goddamn mossie is spoiling for trouble....

Chikungunya

[Thaihog]

An off topic post deleted

Well done, keep up the good work.....

[chiangmaiexpat]

I had a Dengue infection two weeks ago, (supposedly) my first one in 17 years Thailand. I went to the Lanna hospital for a blood test; thankfully the course of disease was fairly mild. I was knocked out for 5 days with very high fever, headaches, fatigue, and aching limbs and joints. Missed only three days of work, because I got sick over the weekend. Felt better after day six. During the past three weeks I have heard of three other people with the same symptoms presumably having caught Dengue. One had fever for two weeks and is now hospitalised. The doctors at Lanna told me about many patients coming in with Dengue. There seems to be an unprecedented epidemic happening right now in Chiang Mai. I have never seen that many people catching Dengue at the same time.

Cheers, CMX

[mcgriffith]

As a further note, read this thread on the Chiang Rai forum:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/388379-deadly-mozzies-are-here/

The OP's 19 yr old sister in law died from dengue in Mai Sai the other day.

Probably was mentioned above, but to reiterate a bit....get rid of all plates under flower vases/plant pots etc.

I don't think many members here have old tires or empty buckets on their property- but if you do dispose of promptly.

The pond/standing water issue is a bit problematic. If it is an issue of dengue vs. The Silent Spring....I would vote (temporarily) for "Better Living Through Chemistry". Meaning DEET repellent, and pesticides applied judiciously in home.

Whatever you are comfortable with. I have a friend who contracted hemorrhagic dengue in the Caribbean- he almost died.

I'll take Baygon over his experience any day of the week.

[ianf]

Slightly off topic, if anybody hasn't got medical insurance I suggest you get it now.

I'm currently in Chiang Mai Ram for a Pulmonary Embolism and in my 5 days to date I've run up a bill of 74K baht.

The Ram is getting very expensive these days, thankfully I have insurance.

Stay healthy :jap:

My daughter's boyfriend contracted Denque and it was very nasty. He spent two days in the Ram - and you are right, their prices have gone through the roof. The main thing about Dengue mossies is that they live near water (usually, I think, within 100 metres or so). He got bitten at the Mae Sa waterfall and it wrecked his Thai holiday.

[ChiangMaiFun]

So in conclusion we agree standing water is a no-no Guppies or no guppies - anyone heard of anything one can take to help prevent it? immune system boosters etc.?

[PMNL]

So in conclusion we agree standing water is a no-no Guppies or no guppies - anyone heard of anything one can take to help prevent it? immune system boosters etc.?

There is nothing (vaccine) to prevent Dengue Fever at the moment.

Keep yourself away from mosquitoes and stay healthy by eating,sleeping well and of course good exercise.

Take some supplements like high dose vitamin C when you feel weak will also help to minimize the damamge when get infected.

There are still lots of infected people around town up to now.

Good Luck everyone.

[ThaiPauly]

Just got back from Ram, heaving with people in ER.

I asked the nurse "why so many people today"?

Her answer was "Mosquito"

So be careful out there folks

[blazes]

Slightly off topic, if anybody hasn't got medical insurance I suggest you get it now.

I'm currently in Chiang Mai Ram for a Pulmonary Embolism and in my 5 days to date I've run up a bill of 74K baht.

The Ram is getting very expensive these days, thankfully I have insurance.

Stay healthy :jap:

Where did you buy insurance and how much did it cost you?

[blazes]

Slightly off topic, if anybody hasn't got medical insurance I suggest you get it now.

I'm currently in Chiang Mai Ram for a Pulmonary Embolism and in my 5 days to date I've run up a bill of 74K baht.

The Ram is getting very expensive these days, thankfully I have insurance.

Stay healthy :jap:

Where did you buy insurance and how much did it cost you?

Sorry...I skipped ahead and did not notice the answer already given to this question.

[Firelily]

does the basic BUPA insurance cover dengue infection, or do they have a get-out-of -it clause somewhere? it is one of my biggest worries. every year at least one of my students end up in hospital.

btw, my neighbourhood was clouded in some chemical pouring out of a very noisy tube, really thick white smoky substance, took half an hour to settle. is that the mosquito repellent? I always think it is but never know for sure.

[Tywais]

btw, my neighbourhood was clouded in some chemical pouring out of a very noisy tube, really thick white smoky substance, took half an hour to settle. is that the mosquito repellent? I always think it is but never know for sure.

Yep. Those are called foggers and see them used occasionally in our moo bahn but not for a while now.

[Tywais]

Dengue mosquito fogging.

[NancyL]

Those foggers don't contain a mosquito repellent, but an insecticide (mosquito killer) carried in a fog of diesel. That's really what you smell -- the diesel, not the insecticide. One of my Thai language teachers said that when she was a kid in Bangkok, the guys operating those foggers would walk down a soi and go door-to-door, opening the doors of private residences and fogging inside without asking permission. We see them quite frequently on our soi, and while some of the Thai residents seem really glad to see them, they totally ignore us as we bring in our drying laundry and close all the windows and doors.

[nikster]

Just got back from Ram, heaving with people in ER.

I asked the nurse "why so many people today"?

Her answer was "Mosquito"

So be careful out there folks

Thanks! Good to hear the ground reports. The more have it, the higher the chance of contracting it...

[stumiller]

just out of curiosity, how much would you expect to pay if you were hospitalised for 5 or so days with dengue?

i understand that some hospitals are pricier than others, but it would be interesting to get an approximation

thanks in advance

[tfc]

I was in Phuket International Hospital for five days at 10,000 baht a day if memory serves.... Travel insurance took care of it for me.

[Ulysses G.]

It is about 1,000 baht a day for a decent, private hotel room here and not a lot they can do for Dengue Fever. I could be very wrong, but 10,000 baht a day sounds expensive to me.

[gotlost]

Chiang Mai Ram about 1000 baht per day.

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

Anyone know if there are a lot of farangs with dengue in Maharaj (aka Suan Dok) Hospital's Sriphat center ?

That's where we'd take this body if we reached the critical platelet count zone with dengue. If re-hydration was required: we'd probably go, as we did once (many years ago) to Dr. Tawatchai's clinic on Loy Kroh. Not sure if he still will perform IV re-hydration there or not.

Re: the comment (random static produced by particles produced from cosmic ray collisions with the upper atmosphere ?) about 1000 baht per day for Chiang Mai Ram: we'd ask: "for what: for using the toilet once a day on an out-patient basis ?"

thanks, ~o:37;

Edited August 14, 2010 by orang37

[gotlost]

Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

Anyone know if there are a lot of farangs with dengue in Maharaj (aka Suan Dok) Hospital's Sriphat center ?

That's where we'd take this body if we reached the critical platelet count zone with dengue. If re-hydration was required: we'd probably go, as we did once (many years ago) to Dr. Tawatchai's clinic on Loy Kroh. Not sure if he still will perform IV re-hydration there or not.

Re: the comment (random static produced by particles produced from cosmic ray collisions with the upper atmosphere ?) about 1000 baht per day for Chiang Mai Ram: we'd ask: "for what: for using the toilet once a day on an out-patient basis ?"

thanks, ~o:37;

It's not for their food that's for sure.