Dengue Fever

I got a text message from my sister-in-law yesterday. It said that her three-year-old niece is diagnosed with dengue fever, and that her platelet count is going down. As a nurse, having witnessed and known how this disease attack and kill people, I really felt worried and scared. I can't imagine an innocent child suffer this kind of illness, because I, too, was once a victim of this. Experiencing abdominal pain, dizziness, weakness, and high fever is not easy. I told my sister-in-law to have her niece drink "tawa-tawa", a boiled herbal plant known to raise one's platelet. What is this illness that endangers one's life?
Dengue fever, or sometimes called, Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, is an acute infectious disease transmitted by Aedes aegypti, a day-biting mosquito. They lay eggs in stagnant water found at homes and nearby places, such as flower vases, water drums, old rubber tires, and canals. Symptoms are manifested by a high fever, abdominal pain, weakness, skin rashes or petechiae (red tiny spots on the skin), vomiting, and dark tarry stools. Sad to say, there is no specific treatment for dengue fever. Patients are just advised to have adequate rest and drink plenty of fluids. It is essential to replace lost fluids for the patient to restore health, and in severe cases, transfusions are needed to control bleeding.

For now, there is nothing I can do for the three-year-old child but wait for their update. I just have to hope and pray that everything will turn out well and good.