Dengue Fever virus about in Sukhothai.

[Kwasaki]

Just a heads up for people in Sukhothai, last time I came across Dengue fever virus I read it was down by Cambodia border and North east of Thailand.

Took a while for me to realize, thought I had a Flu or something, hits people in different ways but for me 4 days of hell in hospital, back home home now though.

Take care all, K.

[stoneyboy]

It can be found anywhere,it's not area specific but outbreaks do occur granted.

I've had friends in Phuket,Pattaya and Phetchabun all fall ill with it.

Speedy recovery.

[JimHuaHin]

According to some friends in the Ministry of Public Health, there have been outbreaks in every province this year, with some provinces experiencing outbreaks at 200+ per cent above last year's incidence rates.

[flyingdoc]

Worth taking preventive measures !

[Ace of Pop]

Pleased You recovered mate , and back in Your Man Cave safe n sound.

[RedQualia]

15-20 cases, at least, in a couple of moo baans a few KM south of Chiang Mai. Health officials are doing the best they can to combat it, but seems 2-3 more each week, at least. One of the problems is that several houses are only occupied part time and so there's often no one to check for standing water around those homes. Another appears to be that some of the more rural Thais (Hmong?) seem to actually be concerned with losing face when told they need to get rid of all standing water ("It's not a problem. I'm not going to do it, and you can't make me.").

Too, based on my family's experience, schools and universities are really great places for show and tell and share, whether in the countryside or the cities. Plenty of mosquitoes around such places, typically, and sharing one child's infection with others is no problem at all. Wats can be equally effective in that way, and a local monk was recently hospitalized for dengue.

Just things to think about when pondering dengue possibilities in your own neighborhoods and families, wherever you may reside.

[sandyf]

15-20 cases, at least, in a couple of moo baans a few KM south of Chiang Mai. Health officials are doing the best they can to combat it, but seems 2-3 more each week, at least. One of the problems is that several houses are only occupied part time and so there's often no one to check for standing water around those homes. Another appears to be that some of the more rural Thais (Hmong?) seem to actually be concerned with losing face when told they need to get rid of all standing water ("It's not a problem. I'm not going to do it, and you can't make me.").

Too, based on my family's experience, schools and universities are really great places for show and tell and share, whether in the countryside or the cities. Plenty of mosquitoes around such places, typically, and sharing one child's infection with others is no problem at all. Wats can be equally effective in that way, and a local monk was recently hospitalized for dengue.

Just things to think about when pondering dengue possibilities in your own neighborhoods and families, wherever you may reside.

It really is pot luck. A couple of years ago I went down to Pattaya to see a friend that had come over the UK. I got bitten using the toilet in a hotel and ended up with dengue. Got bitten on Christmas eve and the symptoms kicked in New Years eve, nearly collapsed on the beach and everyone thought it was the beer, all 2 bottles of it. Not a pleasant experience.

[sandrabbit]

There have been loudspeaker trucks going around in Rayong warning people about dengue and our local tambon has been spraying trees and bushes as a preventative measure but I understand it has been almost epidemic proportions here and I know of people who have been ill with it for weeks.

[Kwasaki]

Worth taking preventive measures !

Yep! have to say I've been a bit laps when out and about, live and learning still.

[Kwasaki]

There have been loudspeaker trucks going around in Rayong warning people about dengue and our local tambon has been spraying trees and bushes as a preventative measure but I understand it has been almost epidemic proportions here and I know of people who have been ill with it for weeks.

Took a while for it to kick in for me I knew something weren't right, went to one Doctor at a private hospital who didn't take blood test, if he had of I would of been caught earlier, the local government hospital where I eventually ended up in were super, no more private hospitals for me anymore, I'll sit out the long wait and get better check up treatment in future.

[JimHuaHin]

I would be interested to know if the people here who were tested for dengue, were tested for the type of dengue they had.

I lived in the far north of Australia for 20 years before moving here, and we used to have dengue out-breaks every rainy season. The last city I lived in had a bad out-break about 5 years ago, with about 1% of the population infected. People were tested for which type of dengue fever they had - there are 4 types, DEN-1 to DEN-4. If you get one type you get very sick, if you later contract a second, different, type you get much sicker than the first time. If you are very unlucky and contract a third type of dengue fever, you get very very very sick, and often die; and apparently, we were told by the local health people, contracting all 4 types during ones life generally results in death.

I know that most of the hospitals here in Prachuap Khiri Khan just test for the presence of the dengue fever virus, but do not test for the strain/type of the virus.

[sandrabbit]

just found this info, hope it's of some help

Symptoms of Dengue Fever

Symptoms, which usually begin four to six days after infection and last for up to 10 days, may include

• Sudden, high fever
• Severe headaches
• Pain behind the eyes
• Severe joint and muscle pain
• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Skin rash, which appears two to five days after the onset of fever
• Mild bleeding (such a nose bleed, bleeding gums, or easy bruising)

Sometimes, symptoms are mild and can be mistaken for those of the flu or another viral infection. Younger children and people who have never had the infection before tend to have milder cases than older children and adults. However, serious problems can develop. These include dengue hemorrhagic fever, a rare complication characterized by high fever, damage to lymph and blood vessels, bleeding from the nose and gums, enlargement of the liver, and failure of the circulatory system. The symptoms may progress to massive bleeding, shock, and death. This is called dengue shock syndrome (DSS).

People with weakened immune systems as well as those with a second or subsequent dengue infection are believed to be at greater risk for developing dengue hemorrhagic fever.

[sandyf]

I would be interested to know if the people here who were tested for dengue, were tested for the type of dengue they had.

I lived in the far north of Australia for 20 years before moving here, and we used to have dengue out-breaks every rainy season. The last city I lived in had a bad out-break about 5 years ago, with about 1% of the population infected. People were tested for which type of dengue fever they had - there are 4 types, DEN-1 to DEN-4. If you get one type you get very sick, if you later contract a second, different, type you get much sicker than the first time. If you are very unlucky and contract a third type of dengue fever, you get very very very sick, and often die; and apparently, we were told by the local health people, contracting all 4 types during ones life generally results in death.

I know that most of the hospitals here in Prachuap Khiri Khan just test for the presence of the dengue fever virus, but do not test for the strain/type of the virus.

I doubt if very many actually get tested, I didn't, it is usually diagnosed on symptoms, the red hands are a clincher. I suspected dengue so all I did was go to a clinic and have a platelet count, it was down but not of concern so I just sat it out. My niece had had it about 6 months previous and she had one overnight in hospital for observation, there is no treatment as such just try and relieve the symptoms.

If you get dengue you get lifetime immunity to that particular strain so you can only ever get a different one. At the time I had it I saw an article that if I remember right said that only 2 of the 4 strains had been identified in Thailand.

The dengue mosquito is a different variety to the bog standard mossie, a good bit smaller. The Australians have genetically modified this variety and released into the wild to try and breed out the disease. From what I remember the theory is that the modified mosquitoes will only reproduce male mosquitoes which are harmless, only the females bite.

Not an overnight solution but it could be a step in the right direction.

[Sheryl]

Foreigners are especially susceptible as no prior immunity.

I think the Issan and near the Cambodian border bit may have been in regard to Japanese B encephalitis, which is also mosquito borne, but found only in rural areas where pigs are raised.

Dengue is endemic everywhere in Thailand (even in Bangkok) and has been now for many decades.. From time to time it reaches epidemic proportion in certain parts of the country, but it is always here to some extent, with peak incidence in and immediately after the rainy season.

[canarysun]

As far as i was aware there is NO CURE for Dengue Fever.So i would of thought it is pointless going to a hospital.Surely the best thing to do would be to ride it out ( not literally of course..... ) in your room for a week drinking plenty of water.Please if one of our viewers is reading this then would you bother going to hospital?

F.J

[Kwasaki]

As far as i was aware there is NO CURE for Dengue Fever.So i would of thought it is pointless going to a hospital.Surely the best thing to do would be to ride it out ( not literally of course..... ) in your room for a week drinking plenty of water.Please if one of our viewers is reading this then would you bother going to hospital?

F.J

Don't think you have grasped the way the Dengue works as said before 4 types, I nearly died in hospital and they brought me back, drinking water at home wasn't an option I had collapsed at home already.

[Ace of Pop]

Only Cars n Jets have plug in diagnostics.One generally goes to Hospital for Pro Advice.

[JimHuaHin]

As far as i was aware there is NO CURE for Dengue Fever.So i would of thought it is pointless going to a hospital.Surely the best thing to do would be to ride it out ( not literally of course..... ) in your room for a week drinking plenty of water.Please if one of our viewers is reading this then would you bother going to hospital?

F.J

Don't think you have grasped the way the Dengue works as said before 4 types, I nearly died in hospital and they brought me back, drinking water at home wasn't an option I had collapsed at home already.

I agree with Kwasaki.

During the 2009 dengue outbreak in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, over 1,000 people contracted dengue (about 1% of the population), including 2 of my then students and a colleague. All people who contracted dengue were hospitalised for treatment; some for only a few days. For one of my students, this was the first time he had caught dengue, and he was hospitalised for 6 days. The other student and my colleague had previously caught dengue, a different strain/type of dengue, and they were both hospitalised for 9-10 days. All were unable to work/study for about 1 week after being released from hospital.

[sandyf]

As far as i was aware there is NO CURE for Dengue Fever.So i would of thought it is pointless going to a hospital.Surely the best thing to do would be to ride it out ( not literally of course..... ) in your room for a week drinking plenty of water.Please if one of our viewers is reading this then would you bother going to hospital?

F.J

There is no cure for the virus but the condition should be monitored, either at a clinic or hospital. The biggest concern is platelet count. The virus affects platelet generation and if your count gets too low then it would be safer to be in hospital.

It is not something you can do yourself. I had mine done at a clinic, only took an hour for the result, and it had dropped to about 80K, normal range is 150K to 400K. A second test the following day showed an increase so I left it at that.

When my niece had it, her count had dropped to around 40K and they took her in for observation, it had risen the following morning and they let her out.

The virus affects different people in different ways and can aggravate other conditions. Suggesting that a visit to a hospital is pointless is a bit irresponsible.

[Kan Win]

Dengue fever outbreak in Ratchaburi province:-

Read all about it.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Dengue-fever-outbreak-in-Ratchaburi-province-30267947.html

The number of dengue fever cases in the province has gone beyond 2,600 this year

Wow, and next door to Kan

Win

[kelboy]

As far as i was aware there is NO CURE for Dengue Fever.So i would of thought it is pointless going to a hospital.Surely the best thing to do would be to ride it out ( not literally of course..... ) in your room for a week drinking plenty of water.Please if one of our viewers is reading this then would you bother going to hospital?

F.J

Don't think you have grasped the way the Dengue works as said before 4 types, I nearly died in hospital and they brought me back, drinking water at home wasn't an option I had collapsed at home already.

Stop drinking Leo mate and you'll be fine

[Kwasaki]

Quote :- Dengue fever cases in Thailand have quadrupled in one week. unquote.

Recently reported and still no local gov workers coming around spraying the village here in Muang Kao.

[DavisH]

Quote :- Dengue fever cases in Thailand have quadrupled in one week. unquote.

Recently reported and still no local gov workers coming around spraying the village here in Muang Kao.

Many people in LoS don't seem to understand the lifecycle of mosquitoes. Dengue shouldn't be a major problem if people covered water pots or emptied them. Most Aegypti breed around people's houses. When I first came to Thailand I visited the wife's families house. I found mosquito larvae in the large water tank. Told the family just to let the water drip enough to disturb the water surface, Viola....no more breeding. It's not difficult, but the village head needs to be strong about it. Spraying is a last gasp effort. Breeding needs to be stopped at the larval stage, but I guess spraying is better than nothing.

[Ace of Pop]

Pleased You're over the event, take care.