Lao Sai Queen

Surprising facts about Dengue Fever no one talks about

LSQ disappeared after my last post in end-August not because of lao sai but because I got hit by dengue fever and was hospitalised for a week. X_X Glad I’m back to share my dengue fever journey and some surprising facts about Dengue Fever that no one talks about.

‘Dengue’ was always an abstract concept and just another word / disease for me. I only knew that people got infected via Aedes mosquitoes that breed in stagnant water, and other than it causing high fevers and rashes, I never knew much about the infection itself, including what symptoms they cause.

LSQ’s Dengue ‘journey’ including symptoms

I didn’t know it then, but my dengue fever symptoms started with a sudden bout of chills after swimming on Wednesday evening, and I initially thought I caught some 7th month ‘dirty thing’ from the pool (because it was the tail end of the hungry ghost month and I’m irrational like that).

The chills progressed to high fever – 39.5 deg celsius, and this lasted for 4 days, with some occasional dips in the temperature.

Eventually on Sunday, I started developing rashes on my thighs, and even then the locum doctor on duty told me they were “infant exanthem rashes”……….she showed me this exact Google Search page:

A photo of how infant exanthem rashes look like which the locum surprisingly mistook my dengue rashes for
Should have known not to trust a doctor who can’t tell an infant and an adult apart

She haphazardly asked “Is your area a dengue zone? No right? Shouldn’t be dengue” –_–

So I went home, and the next day, my rashes got worse plus my fever never went away so that evening I decided to check myself into the hospital. Even then, when I went to the clinic one last time, another locum was unsure and I had to instruct him to write me a memo for the hospital.

No surprise here - a photo of LSQ's dengue rashes on the thighs
My rashes at its peak – looks like the infant exanthem meh?

Conclusion, don’t trust locums in general, especially if you happen to visit a clinic directly next to Old Airport Road that has a maroon sign board.

Surprising facts about Dengue Fever NO ONE talks about until you kena

i – You will lose a lot of hair 2-3 months after your infection:

The most surprising fact about dengue fever to LSQ - shedding copious amount of hair 2 months after contracting dengue
This is the amount of hair I shed after 1 bath

ii – Your liver will suffer temporary damage during and up to 1 month after your infection, so no alcohol and clean eating during this period. Anyway, you won’t have much of an appetite too.

iii – There is a dengue vaccination available! But only for people unfortunate enough to have gotten infected once! First timers who take the vaccine will end up suffering more severe symptoms should they get infected :X And apparently not all doctors even know about this. It’s called Dengvaxia® and costs around $150 per jab, 3 jabs in total over a span of 12 months – LSQ already took her first jab in October.

iv – The National Environment Agency (NEA) will call you up the moment you get diagnosed and you will be listed as a statistic immediately on the NEA website. 1 case in your neighbourhood is enough to render the area a YELLOW zone, and more than 1 will turn it into RED zone. So those posters you see warning you about dengue? THEY ARE REAL!

Another surprising fact about Dengue Fever - NEA puts up a yellow zone banner even when there's only 1 case of dengue
The banner put up below my place right after I got diagnosed!

v – There are 4 strains of Dengue in total and after you get hit by 1, you are immune only to that strain, so you still need to be very careful not to get infected again by the other 3 strains because your 2nd bout of Dengue is likely going to be very severe and of the hemorrhaging variety where your platelets can drop to dangerously low levels – ie, you may die. So now, LSQ wears mozzie patches everyday / everywhere.

vi – The chinese name for Dengue is 骨痛熱症 which literally translates to ‘painful & hot bone disease’ and after I kena, I know why! Cos you will literally feel bone/joint aches. For me, my lower legs ached for a few weeks after I got infected.

vii – For LSQ, the hardest part of the Dengue symptoms to manage are not the aches or fever, but the rashes! They were super itchy, intense, and uncomfortable. Anti-histamines help a little, and remember to keep calamine lotion handy at all times >.<

Before I wipe clean……

Yup, so it’s been 2 months plus since my ordeal and I’m mostly well now, except for the hair shedding T_T

Just wanted to share an account of my dengue fever symptoms and journey so if anyone reads this, you will better understand Dengue so that *touch wood* you can be better prepared if you or your loved ones kena. Mozzies stay away!