Showing posts with label dengue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dengue. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Dengue alert, prevention, cure

Thankfully, Vito is getting better now. He had no fever the last two days. His platelets still went down but in a slower rate. Doctors ordered just one CBC yesterday, unlike the past 3 days where he was subjected to the procedure 2x a day.

He is also more energetic now. Thanks to his cousins and relatives who cheer him up and specially to his brother Popoy, their constant bickering keeps him on his toes. Thanks too, to friends who wished for his speedy recovery, and to those who sent links about dengue prevention.

Vito's main concern now is the dryness on his face and his scaly dandruffy scalp. The doctor assures him that it is not caused by the dengue. He is advised to have complete bed rest for a week. It's good that classes have been reset for a week.

I removed the water plant vases in the house. Although we frequently change the water, these are the only places where mosquitoes could have bred inside the house. There were no other dengue cases within our vicinity. And the rains had just started to come. My main suspects are the vases. They have to go.

In the news, the Dept of Health issued a dengue alert and advised the public to refrain from wearing black or dark blue clothes to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes carrying dengue virus. It seems the dengue mosquitoes are attracted by dark  colors. In one of the links, I learned that a larvicide, Abate, can be used to neutralize mosquito breeding grounds. I'm still looking where to buy the larvicide.

Elsewhere in the news are the kids of Kris Aquino who also had dengue at around the same time as Vito. They, too, are now OK.

Aside from the medical treatment, we are now supplying Vito with kamote leaves tea. This is the greenish-yellowish water where the leaves were boiled. It is supposed to increase the platelet count. Then my wife heard about Kris Aquino's cure - eating peeled and sliced apple, left exposed in the air to make them brown. If eating something that looks sick can make you well, then it's worth trying.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Dengue, swine flu, Aling Banang sighting

While the world frets over the A(H1N1) outbreak, my son Vito got the fever, chills, and general malaise. It turned out to be dengue. Our DOH/DepEd should be on the lookout too for other diseases aside from swine flu, especially with the onset of rains. After all, dengue for one has a higher death rate than A(H1N1). The DOH website says that the WHO reported 19,273 cases and 117 deaths from 66 reporting countries. This translates to just 0.6% A(H1N1) fatality rate compared to 2%-8% for dengue.

After failing to delay PacMan from returning to the Philippines, Duque now says the CHED's move to delay the opening of classes won't prevent the spread of the A(H1N1). He says the practice of proper hygiene among students and school officials is still the best protection against the virus. Correct, but Mr. Secretary, please shut the f*ck up and instead help the schools draw plans on how to instill proper hygiene when the students return. Supply them with alcohol dispensers, make posters on the proper hand washing technique, use the time to prepare the schools for the virus, instead of contradicting yourself just to stay in the news.

Vito is confined at the St. Luke's Hospital. A mild surprise is the Aling Banang's pansiteria in front of the hospital. They dropped the Aling, opting to use just Banang's, but they still have the same basic menu of pancit, halo-halo, tapsilog, atbp. I'm not sure who among her children runs the place, but this is the first Banang store where the busboys wear uniforms.
The originally San Juan eatery enjoys good word of mouth success. Its N.Domingo-Araneta branch is now used by Google maps as a landmark, as can be seen from my Google profile map.