DENGUE FEVER
Living in Malaysia is perhaps where we have enjoyed life the most. It is literally our favorite country to base ourselves but there are also some things to be aware of when it comes to living in tropic countries such as dengue fever. I got dengue fever in 2015 when we were on a vacation in Langkawi Island, Malaysia. It was a horrifying experience but it was mild, to be honest. I kept it a secret from my family to not to make them uncomfortable while we're on a trip but after a while, I realized that especially in Turkey -our home country- almost nobody knows about this illness and likewise, they don't know that they need to protect themselves proactively. So, I decided to tell my mom that I got dengue, hospitalized in Malaysia for 3 days and then share a blog post about my own experience.
My second dengue fever day, probably my fever was around 40 C.
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I wasn't in pain but I was feeling exhausted.
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WHAT IS DENGUE FEVER?
Dengue Fever is a tropical disease caused by Dengue Virus (DENV) and spread by Aedes species mosquitoes. It can be quite serious. Fever is the most common symptom of dengue fever. They also say dengue fever makes your bones ache so bad that you think they are breaking but this wasn't the case with me. I had a very high fever but I never had pain, which was very lucky as I understood later. Dengue means breaking bones, so basically it is a fever that almost feels like breaking your bones. If you have a trip to a tropical or a sub-tropical location you're under risk. Since there is not a fixed treatment for the disease, the most effective measure is to protect oneself from mosquito bites either with long clothes or high DEET factor mosquito repellents.
Same day evening: Penang-Kuala Lumpur Train, cold iron bars are my best friends =D
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I am smiling but my eyes tell the truth.
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WHAT IS DENGUE FEVER CAUSED BY?
Dengue fever is transmitted by a certain type of mosquito, that is infected by dengue virus. These mosquitos are called aedes, they are slightly bigger than the normal mosquitos and they have black and white dots. They are only active during sunrise or sunset, when it is a little cooler than the noon time. In Malaysia, we never feel this cool weather but apparently aedes mosquitos do =D It doesn't mean you'll get dengue fever if you are bitten by this mosquito. Tugce and I had dinner together in the same place (In Tanjung Rhu Beach, Langkawi), we were both bitten but only I got dengue fever. A kind of lottery, I guess. Oh, and we tested for sure that dengue fever is not transmitted by kissing.
A perfect shot from our great hotel that we went for our birthdays.
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Maybe I got dengue fever during this high-tea in Langkawi Island.
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DENGUE FEVER SYMPTOMS
The first sign of dengue fever disease is fever followed by rash, muscle, joint or bone pain, bleeding from the nose or gums. After you get the fever, dengue fever rash starts to appear in some parts of your body, typically your back and chest. If you are white, you may confuse how dengue fever rash looks like with mild sunburn but there is a difference. If you are sunburnt, your skin would get white when you press it with your finger but if it is dengue fever rash, it doesn't get white. In my situation, I experienced high fever, rash and bleeding from my gums. I was lucky that there was no pain in my bones or my joints since my pain threshold is extremely low :D
WHERE IS DENGUE FEVER MOST COMMON?
You may think dengue fever is most common in Southeast Asia but it is actually common in most tropic places including The Carribbean, south and Central America, China, Brasil and the Pacific Islands. According to WHO, it is seen in 128 countries in the world and it is a threat to almost 4 billion people.
IS THERE A DENGUE FEVER VACCINE?
As of 2022, there is an approved vaccine for the people between 9 and 45 who were previously infected by any type of dengue virus.
IS DENGUE FEVER CONTAGIOUS?
Dengue fever is not contagious. It can't spread directly from one person to another. To be infected, you need to be bitten by an Aedes species mosquito.
"I didin't do it" looks =)
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You can see I am exhausted.
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HOW I GOT DENGUE FEVER IN MALAYSIA
We were staying in Malaysia as exchange students and traveling within the country whenever possible. We were in Penang Island when I started to experience the bad symptoms of dengue fever. Generally, dengue fever symptoms start to show in 4 days, so probably I got it in Langkawi, where we were before Pinang. It is important to keep track of where you were and what you have been doing before you got dengue fever because most tropic diseases are alike and your story matters to your doctor for a proper diagnosis.
Anyway, I woke up in the middle of the night in our hotel in Penang, there was a heavy storm outside. Lightnings were coming one after another, it was raining and I was literally burning. Don't let heavy storms in Asia deceive you, the weather is always hot there! So, when I went out to "cool down", outside was warmer than me. I was cranky and murmuring to myself, "How can it be stormy and hot? Isn't there a little bit of wind?" and Tugce woke up to my voice. She told me that the room is freezing cold because of the air conditioner! Nest morning, we went to the clinic right across our hotel in Tanjung Bungah but we couldn't even manage to get my temperature taken. The only dengue fever treatment I got that day was to cool off in the pool and when it was time for the train, we went back to Kuala Lumpur at night. I was one of my hardest journeys ever. Malaysia trains are famous for being brutally cold but even that wasn't enough to cool my fever down. Next morning we were at home but I was still denying that I had dengue fever. However, Tugce took me to the hospital by force and I tested positive. Dengue fever test only takes 5 minutes and the test price varies from institution to institution in Malaysia.
After I was diagnosed by dengue fever, they told me to go home and rest and come to the hospital if anything serious happens. Dengue fever can recover by itself. There is no treatment for dengue fever but you have to watch out for dehydration and fever. Some people may get internal bleeding, which is called hemorrhagic dengue fever, and it is really serious. After three days at home, I got a small bleeding in my gum, freaked out and opted to be hospitalized =D I stayed in the hospital for 4 days.
The only treatment for dengue fever is to be hydrated and paracetamol for decreasing your fever. They gave me regular serum and plenty of water in the hospital. They made blood tests every day and when my platelet count has reached a normal level, they let me out. When you have dengue fever, platelet count is the most important thing, when your platelets are low, your chances of bleeding increases.
Even though I didn't experience pain, believe me this disease is nothing like a flu. I was feeling so exhausted that I imagined there were 80 kg weighs attached to my legs. My muscles were so tired that I even couldn't manage to watch tv and fell asleep.
Anyway, I woke up in the middle of the night in our hotel in Penang, there was a heavy storm outside. Lightnings were coming one after another, it was raining and I was literally burning. Don't let heavy storms in Asia deceive you, the weather is always hot there! So, when I went out to "cool down", outside was warmer than me. I was cranky and murmuring to myself, "How can it be stormy and hot? Isn't there a little bit of wind?" and Tugce woke up to my voice. She told me that the room is freezing cold because of the air conditioner! Nest morning, we went to the clinic right across our hotel in Tanjung Bungah but we couldn't even manage to get my temperature taken. The only dengue fever treatment I got that day was to cool off in the pool and when it was time for the train, we went back to Kuala Lumpur at night. I was one of my hardest journeys ever. Malaysia trains are famous for being brutally cold but even that wasn't enough to cool my fever down. Next morning we were at home but I was still denying that I had dengue fever. However, Tugce took me to the hospital by force and I tested positive. Dengue fever test only takes 5 minutes and the test price varies from institution to institution in Malaysia.
After I was diagnosed by dengue fever, they told me to go home and rest and come to the hospital if anything serious happens. Dengue fever can recover by itself. There is no treatment for dengue fever but you have to watch out for dehydration and fever. Some people may get internal bleeding, which is called hemorrhagic dengue fever, and it is really serious. After three days at home, I got a small bleeding in my gum, freaked out and opted to be hospitalized =D I stayed in the hospital for 4 days.
The only treatment for dengue fever is to be hydrated and paracetamol for decreasing your fever. They gave me regular serum and plenty of water in the hospital. They made blood tests every day and when my platelet count has reached a normal level, they let me out. When you have dengue fever, platelet count is the most important thing, when your platelets are low, your chances of bleeding increases.
Even though I didn't experience pain, believe me this disease is nothing like a flu. I was feeling so exhausted that I imagined there were 80 kg weighs attached to my legs. My muscles were so tired that I even couldn't manage to watch tv and fell asleep.
WHICH HOSPITAL DID I STAY IN MALAYSIA FOR DENGUE FEVER?
We chose to stay in Prince Court Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur because our insurance had an agreement with it. It was very central, clean and had really good service. We stayed in a private room with a bathroom and one companion was allowed in the room. All the meals were included for the patient. Actually we were conned by the insurance company, they told us they would pay it but then refused to pay because dengue fever is an epidemic. We paid a bill around 3000 RM for 4 days in 2015 but what you need to look for is the very unnecessary drugs they write on your bill. Try to get them erased because you don't need them anyway once you're good enough to get out. If we had chosen a governmental hospital, it would have been cheaper but they are still expensive for foreigners in Malaysia and you stay in 2-4 people rooms.
After I was discharged from the hospital, I was shaken for at least ten more days. I couldn't get my appetite back easily and I was tired all the time. My nails didn't grow properly for a while and almost two months after I got dengue fever, I experienced a massive hair loss. At that time, I panicked and thought I was going to be bald but fortunately it was a side effect of dengue fever and after a month it stopped.
Our view from the hospital window =)
IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT DENGUE FEVER
- If your fever is high and you are in a country with dengue fever risk, don't postpone going to the hospital and get tested for dengue fever.
- Dengue fever increases the permeability of your veins leading to fluid loss. This causes your red blood cells to decrease while white blood cells increase. The key is to drink a lot of water. If you suspect that you've dengue and you can't reach medical assistance, drink plenty of water and cool yourself.
- Some insurance companies may refuse to pay your hospital bill because dengue fever is an epidemic. Even so, your diagnosis costs and tests until you are diagnosed with dengue fever should be paid by the insurance.
- It takes around 9 days to recover from dengue fever but beware, it takes almost an additional 10 days to fully feel energised again. Loss of appetite and exhaustion lingers around. Even my nails didn't grow for almost two weeks.
- After around two months, your hair starts to fall down. Don't freak out! I had dig deep into internet to wire dengue fever and hair loss and only after I figured it is temporary, I relaxed =) Initially, I actually thought I was going bald and felt depressed. There are a lot of bald men in my family, so when I learned my hair loss was due to dengue fever I was very happy! Hair loss happens because your body is very tired and can't produce new follicles. After your body gains strength again, your hair gets back to normal.
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Day 4
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- Dengue fever vaccine is still not very common, so you have to take precautions. Using mosquito repellents with high DEET value, covering your arms and legs during sunrise and sunset hours are your best bets to prevent dengue fever.
- If you have dengue fever and you are not vaccinated for Hepatitis, your blood tests may show hepatitis signs. At least that's what happened to me in my two blood tests after dengue fever. This is just our guess but in a medical article that we have read, we learned that dengue virus and hepatitis B shares a similar protein, so your blood tests may seem different than they should be. However, this is only a theory, hepatitis B is a serious disease, do your best to get treatment or vaccination.
- Dengue fever mosquitos are active during 5 am and 8 am in the morning and between 5 pm and 8 pm in the evening, beware!
- In some tropic countries, there is a belief that papaya leaves can cure dengue fever but it is not proven. Papaya leaves may have an increasing effect on your platelet level and this actually makes it harder for the doctors to follow your case. Don't do anything without consulting your doctor first.
- Dengue fever causes a decrease in platelets which makes it hard for your blood to clot. This means even small cuts or impacts you may take can turn into serious bleeding events. They didn't even allow me to brush my teeth for the first two days.
- Dengue fever virus has four types, so once you have dengue fever, it doesn't mean you're immune. You are only immune to one type of dengue virus. Yes, you read it right, you can get dengue fever twice!
- Dengue fever has three stages and it takes roughly 9 days for the virus to die and leave your body.
- You need to drink a lot of water and most importantly, REST!
My art piece named "Miserable digital nomad"
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My last day in the hospital, look how happy I am...
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