Murphy strikes again. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong. First was the Katrina matter, then the typhoon in Japan, then the Medan air crash, now the rapid increase in dengue fever cases here.
There seems to be a rapid increase in dengue fever cases lately. I am starting to fear that what dengue fever is to the population now was what SARS was to us more than two years back. I hope things will not get too serious that people have to be put under quarantine, and schools have to be closed or wholesale markets shut down until further notice.
I know how terrible dengue fever can be. It is worse than chicken pox. Incidentally I had chicken pox in 2001, when I was already an adult, and it was my final semester in the university! My youngest brother got it first, then spread to my other brother, then finally to me. I was so upset when the scabs started coming out as I was more worried about being disfigured and scarred for life than anything else. Luckily (I really should thank God for this) there were hardly any scabs on my exposed areas, like my face, hands and legs. It was more prominent on my back and chest to navel area, so I became a bit more “spotty” at those parts, but who is going to see? As long as my face still looks flawless that is all that matters.
My first brother was hospitalized for three weeks due to dengue fever earlier this year. He got it just a few days before he was due back to his college, and my dad had to call his school to ask for a deferment of a month. He had to be put on drip and stayed under observation in the Intensive Care ward until his fever and vomiting went down, before he was transferred back to a normal ward. I remember my mum taking leave just to stay in the hospital with him. I was asking my mum if it was considered annual leave or childcare leave, so she said it was emergency leave, and she is no longer entitled to childcare leave since my brother is already an adult. But still, he is her child. Oh well….
I worry more for myself now. I have been noticing a few mosquito bites on my arms for the past few days. I cannot afford to get sick now, not with a party I am organizing at my place this Saturday, and the fact that I just started work not long ago. I really do not wish to fall sick and get hospitalized.
There seems to be a rapid increase in dengue fever cases lately. I am starting to fear that what dengue fever is to the population now was what SARS was to us more than two years back. I hope things will not get too serious that people have to be put under quarantine, and schools have to be closed or wholesale markets shut down until further notice.
I know how terrible dengue fever can be. It is worse than chicken pox. Incidentally I had chicken pox in 2001, when I was already an adult, and it was my final semester in the university! My youngest brother got it first, then spread to my other brother, then finally to me. I was so upset when the scabs started coming out as I was more worried about being disfigured and scarred for life than anything else. Luckily (I really should thank God for this) there were hardly any scabs on my exposed areas, like my face, hands and legs. It was more prominent on my back and chest to navel area, so I became a bit more “spotty” at those parts, but who is going to see? As long as my face still looks flawless that is all that matters.
My first brother was hospitalized for three weeks due to dengue fever earlier this year. He got it just a few days before he was due back to his college, and my dad had to call his school to ask for a deferment of a month. He had to be put on drip and stayed under observation in the Intensive Care ward until his fever and vomiting went down, before he was transferred back to a normal ward. I remember my mum taking leave just to stay in the hospital with him. I was asking my mum if it was considered annual leave or childcare leave, so she said it was emergency leave, and she is no longer entitled to childcare leave since my brother is already an adult. But still, he is her child. Oh well….
I worry more for myself now. I have been noticing a few mosquito bites on my arms for the past few days. I cannot afford to get sick now, not with a party I am organizing at my place this Saturday, and the fact that I just started work not long ago. I really do not wish to fall sick and get hospitalized.
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