Dengue

Slight digression on my trip report from Hanoi and Halong Bay.  I started feeling unwell very suddenly on Thursday afternoon.  A quite high fever came on very quickly (39.2 Degrees) and my body was aching.  Nick had to work until about 7 so I just put myself to bed and waited for him to come home.  Believe it or not I could not even get out of bed to get the panadol.  We thought about going to the doctor but, I know this sounds lame, I was just too sick.  We pretty much self diagnosed Dengue Fever and called SOS clinic instead.  As there is no specific treatment for Dengue they agreed that just making me comfortable and drinking lots of fluids until the morning was ok.  They were great on the phone and we made an appointment for the following morning.  I saw a different doctor the following morning and he was quite dubious that it was dengue.  He claimed it was presenting itself more as gastro (I had/and still have, an upset stomach.  I did say to him that I have had gastro on numerous occasions but not with the aches and high fevers so he agreed to ease my mind with a blood test.  He came out shame faced 20 minutes later, confirming that I did in fact have Dengue.

Dengue is transmitted by this little pest and there is no vaccine.  Apparently it usually takes between 4 to 6 days to present itself after the bite.  Believe it or not I can actually remember being bitten.  Exactly 6 days before I fell ill we were out on  Halong Bay I had just put on my tropical strength good old Aussie Aeroguard and not five minutes later felt it bite me.  I remember because I was surprised as I had just put spray on.  On a happier note, as I felt the bite I took great pleasure in squashing the little bastard. (Sorry Buddha).
So, where am I at?  I have to go back for another blood test today just to make sure things have not gotten any worse.  For now the fever is under control and panadol is also helping with the aches.  Wow, they don't call it breakbone fever for nothing!  Unfortunatley my stomach is still playing up with cramps et al so have not been able to keep any food in (too much information?)  I am just lying in bed trying to rest and have stopped Googling as there are just so many conflicting reports.  Mum, don't Google.  I'm fine.

A few hours later and I have just gotten back from the Doc's.  Saw a much more competent doctor this time and he was able to give me a lot more info.  Basically they have to monitor my platelets for the next 4 days so I need to go in for a blood test each day.  They are expected to go down but it depends on how much as to their course of action. He will call later with todays results. Nick has the kids at the zoo so it is back to bed for me.  Might be time to start to watch those hundreds of movies I have been collecting and never seem to get time to watch.