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Dengue Fever 2013


drlove
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I am about to depart for Thailand and last week I saw a news flash saying that dengue levels are very high this year. Looked online and found "As of March 11, 13,200 Thais have fallen victims of dengue fever so far this year, with 16 fatalities, according to the Public Health Ministry.

Officials said that the number of cases and the number of fatalities are both 4 times higher than the same period last year.

The ministry’s data shows that cases were reported in all provinces of Thailand.

A war room is now in place to monitor the situation and devise measures to contain the disease. The ministry fears the situation would worsen during the rainy season." Has anyone you know gotten it? What have you seen and heard in Thailand? Are you taking additional precautions now? If so, what do you recommend?

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I've had it twice and I'm still kicking. My Mrs told me I should take better care of myself, then she got it. About the time I got it most recently (10 years ago), two of my colleagues also got it. One of my neighbours did too.

 

Best way not to get it is not to get bitten by mosquitoes.

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Dengue is a tough one. I was not on that team but had some friends that were/are. As I recall there are three big types or "serotypes" of it. Getting one for some reason makes the other two a lot more deadly if you get them. What is really odd as getting one serotype makes you immune to that serotype, in odd combinations makes an other one 100x worse. There is a Nobel prize for figuring out that one. As I remember, there is no working vaccine right now but there are some promising trials.

 

Like Flash said, watch out for the mosquitoes!

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What a lot of people don't realize is the dengue mosquito (female) mainly feeds during the daytime. So while most people protect themselves from around dusk for the night time mozzie (malaria) they neglect protecting themselves during the day.

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Dengue is a tough one. I was not on that team but had some friends that were/are. As I recall there are three big types or "serotypes" of it. Getting one for some reason makes the other two a lot more deadly if you get them. What is really odd as getting one serotype makes you immune to that serotype, in odd combinations makes an other one 100x worse. There is a Nobel prize for figuring out that one. As I remember, there is no working vaccine right now but there are some promising trials.

 

Like Flash said, watch out for the mosquitoes!

 

 

Didn't realise that. The second time was much worse than the first, and it took me far longer to recover. I felt absolutely exhausted for weeks afterwards.

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Didn't realise that. The second time was much worse than the first, and it took me far longer to recover. I felt absolutely exhausted for weeks afterwards.

 

That's not a good sign. But I honestly dont know what you can do so I would put it out of your head. I'll call a buddy at Dietrick and see if there is any news on this I have not seen in the journals.

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One of my colleagues got it on Samui. The docs put him in a hospital bed on the drip. The other one said it left her feeling tired for weeks as well.

 

"The incidence of dengue fever has increased dramatically since the 1960s, with around 50–100 million people infected yearly. Early descriptions of the condition date from 1779, and its viral cause and the transmission were elucidated in the early 20th century. Dengue has become a global problem since the Second World War and is endemic in more than 110 countries."

 

"People can prevent mosquito bites by wearing clothing that fully covers the skin, using mosquito netting while resting, and/or the application of insect repellent (DEET being the most effective)." :up:

 

post-98-0-55434700-1364179660_thumb.png

 

Dengue distribution in 2006.

Red: Epidemic dengue and Ae. aegypti

Aqua: Just Ae. aegypti

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Dengue_fever

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I got Dengue about 6 years ago, and like others it put me out completely for about 10 days. No energy to get out of bed, eat - could not even get up to use the computer. Was put in the hospital for one night, but since there isn't anything that they can do (except an IV) - decided to just rest at home.

Believe I missed a full week of work during that time.

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In 1997, my father, who was 81 years old at the time and travelling with me on a 6 month around the world trip, got Dengue fever in Fiji. We went to see a French Doctor and he gave him a shot for two days in a row. He looked like death warmed over and, as we flew to Hawaii, I poked him several times to make sure he was alive. I was never so glad to touch down on U.S. soil. He recovered after 4-5 days and never showed any further symptoms. I'm hoping that I have his constitution.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Dengue is a tough one. I was not on that team but had some friends that were/are. As I recall there are three big types or "serotypes" of it. Getting one for some reason makes the other two a lot more deadly if you get them. What is really odd as getting one serotype makes you immune to that serotype, in odd combinations makes an other one 100x worse. There is a Nobel prize for figuring out that one. As I remember, there is no working vaccine right now but there are some promising trials.

 

Like Flash said, watch out for the mosquitoes!

 

there are 4 serotypes, not three

they are named DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, DEN-4

the theory is, that your first Dengue infection will trigger a misguided exaggerated immune response when you later get infected by another serotype (you have immunity against the serotype that you had before)

this is still the main theory but it is contested (some people have very severe Dengue infections even it is their first infection)

 

Dengue is harmless for young tourists (farang Dengue patients are usually backpackers in their twenties)

it is a life threatening disease for local children and for the elderly

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