DECEMBER 10 — Thanks to an aedes mosquito, I find myself confined to bed for the next five days. Dengue fever is not fun. 

What disturbs me, though, is the amount of folk remedies people keep recommending. Papaya leaves, 100 Plus, this juice, that soup.

Let’s just get things clear: there is no cure for dengue. No matter what your cousin or aunt or Dr Mercola says. Here are some other things you should probably know about dengue fever.

1. Getting dengue once doesn’t give you immunity

There are four strains of dengue. So getting one strain makes you immune to that strain only with a temporary immunity to the other three. To be totally immune you have to contract dengue four times. Or, you know, don’t get dengue.

2. The Aedes mosquito likes clean water

Just because you have no swampy areas outside or you think your yard is bone-dry, does not make you safe from those pesky mosquitoes. Aedes mosquitoes can just as easily breed in your flower vases or your pet’s feeding bowl. They also hide in cupboards, bathrooms, and various other nooks and crannies.

3. Drink water, not 100 Plus

I’m not sure who started the whole “Drink 100 Plus” routine but you’re much better off drinking lots of water. Just water. Most carbonated drinks, including isotonic drinks, have high sugar content. Curing myself of dengue by giving myself diabetes doesn’t sound fun now, does it?

4. Papaya leaves do not conclusively increase platelet count

The fixation with platelet counts as indicators of recovery is a bit disturbing. Your platelet count will eventually rise once you have reached the recovery phase—coincidentally also when people start taking whatever folk remedies like crab soup, guava juice, papaya leaves and the like. Thus they think there is some correlation.

Repeat after me, kids. Correlation is not causation.

There have been over 95,000 dengue cases in the country so far, nearly three times what was recorded last year. — Reuters pic

5. There are now dengue tests that can get your results in 15 minutes or less

I called around until I got a doctor that administers the new dengue kits. These kits are little miracles. No more waiting hours in cold hospital waiting areas, I could just pop over to a GP, make inane small talk about the weather and lo, I will now be the reason my neighbours have to smell poison fog soon.

6. While you probably won’t die, best take care of yourself

While I’m fortunate my symptoms haven’t progressed to internal or external bleeding, I’m just taking it easy and swallowing all my pills. I’m also crossing my fingers that my disease doesn’t progress to a second stage where I get rashes, itch all over or heaven forbid, start haemorrhaging. Fortunately dengue shock syndrome, a complication of dengue fever, happens primarily in children under 10.

7. The outbreak isn’t going away anytime soon

There have been over 95,000 dengue cases (look Ma, I’m a statistic!) in the country so far, nearly three times what was recorded last year. So best look around not just your house but the surrounding areas. Don’t think that if you live in a high-rise, the mosquitoes won’t find you. In the meantime, I will be drinking lots of fluids and avoiding the local news for the sake of my blood pressure. Stay mosquito-free, everyone.

* Sources: 

http://alt.medicine.com.my/2013/07/does-taking-papaya-leaves-cure-dengue/ http://www.mmgazette.com/10-myths-on-dengue-fever-dr-nur-hidayati/

** This is the personal opinion of the columnist.