Articles by Beatrice Labonne

BREAK BONE FEVER CAUSED BY EVIL SPIRIT

A couple of weeks ago, I had a fateful encounter with Ms Aedes aegypti. I don’t exactly recall the date, but between 3 and 14 days after the fact, I went down with “break bone fever caused by evil spirit”, which translates into dengue fever in the Swahili language of eastern Africa. I am learning something new here. I was led to wrongly believe that dengue came from the French dingue which means crazy. Sure, Ms Aedes aegypti is an evil spirit. Actually she is a female mosquito, and certainly the busiest in the sizeable mosquito kingdom. As we all know, a female mosquito’s work is never finished…

As early as dawn, she lurks in moist areas for her first victims; bathrooms are her preferred hunting ground. This is where she probably ensnared me with her fateful bite. At sunset, she is still busying around. In Rio, dengue fever is the ultimate democratic disease: It indiscriminately strikes people in the favelas as well as in the posh suburbs.

I spare you the medical lingo, but I was as sick as a dog. By the way, do dogs get dengue? I have to find out. The signature symptom of dengue fever is at the onset the bone-breaking pain, the high fever, the maddening headaches, rashes, nausea and these wrenching bowel movements which keep you prostrated for hours in the bathroom. Last but not least you get anorexic and lose weight.

Dengue fever is also a very frustrating disease. You don’t know for sure that you have got it until you are totally exhausted. There is still no cure for it. With malaria, it is more straightforward: You are shipped to the nearest hospital, receive a quinine overdose and get fit soon after. In my case, after 24 hours of misery, the doctor suspected dengue fever: The blood test had showed abnormally low levels of things like leucocytes and platelets. This limbo lasts for at least four days until you are able to undergo the second and unequivocal blood diagnosis. Bingo, the doctor was right; I had dengue fever.

The medication is basic at best: Tylenol for the pain and headache, plenty of fluids (caipirinha is not included), rest, patience and a mirror. The medical establishment pompously describes it as supportive therapy. Why the mirror and not a thermometer you may ask. Beware; dengue fever is a very deceitful disease. In the event of dengue hemorrhagic fever, the mirror is the key death prevention tool. At about the time the dengue patient seems on the way to recovery, his or her body starts to exhibit reddish marks and other signs of internal bleeding. The patient may then become victim of dengue shock syndrome. The mirror helps in checking early manifestation of this deadly evolution. According to doctors, this fateful dengue variant tends to affect people who had been infected once in the past.

Fortunately for me the scare is over. I now have to fatten up. I learned my lesson and will be more careful next time. I only wish the Rio government to be more efficient at preventing Ms Aedes from breeding on my stomping grounds. Recent studies indicate that Ms Aedes’ range will keep increasing thanks to the combined effect of global warming and the government’s incompetence. Naysayer: maybe? For professional dengue fever info, kindly refer to medical websites.

Beatrice Labonne, May 1, 2007