Public Service Announcement

A couple of weeks ago I had a fever for a few days, then rashes appeared, yup it was dengue. Never thought I would get dengue, after all they do fog my area once a week and the place is very clean. Sigh!

Deaths from dengue fever in Malaysia have risen by a third so far this year and health authorities said recently that the worst is yet to come. The mosquito-borne virus has killed hundreds in Southeast Asia this year, prompting the World Health Organisation to warn that the Western Pacific region could be at risk from a major dengue outbreak. Malaysia recorded 30,285 dengue cases so far this year with 65 deaths, up from 20,258 cases and 49 deaths in the first seven months of 2006, said Hasan Abdul Rahman, director of the Health Ministry's Diseases Control Division.

You can ask your doctor till the cows come home and they will tell you that there is no cure. Plus as western educated medical doctors, they cannot bring themselves to tell you the alternative cures. Not that I am forcing them to say anything but I am sure they have heard of traditional remedies, but they will still not tell me anything except check into the hospital and drink 100 Plus. Now I was left with the situation of leaving things as it is and go over my will, or ask around. It was a good survey, what was surprising was that there were the same 3 remedies from asking about 20 friends and contacts.

Now, I am not saying that these are indeed cures but hey, they won't kill you. Do you just want to check into hospital (you should if your platelet count dips below 100) or try something that won't kill you. The few doctors / nurses and even the Health Ministry lady said to go to hospital and get a drip and drink lots of water esp 100 Plus. That's the funny thing, all the western medicine staffers recommend 100 Plus (an isotonic drink). Now that's great marketing information - somebody should try and buy out the drinks manufacturer cause I can see their popularity growing strongly forever.

I took the 3 options for 2-3 days and the rashes were gone by the second day. The fastest working remedy was the soup, I felt "recovery" almost immediately. So, here's the public service announcement about the remedies:

1) Papaya Leaves - Put the 4-6 papaya leaves into a blender plus half a cup of water. You won't be able to blend the fibrous leaves totally, so just filter it and drink a couple of table spoons twice a day. Tastes very bitter but not that bad actually.

2) Replenishing Liquids - Blend bitter gourd, green apples, starfruit with a dollop of honey. Make a liter a day and keep it cold as the concoction will turn brown after a day. Drink throughout the day - it actually tastes very nice. I think Jusco prepares the same fresh juice mix for sale. Naturally also drink lots of water and 100 Plus in between.

3) Bitter Gourd & Frog Soup - To me, this had the greatest immediate relief. Cut up one bitter gourd and boil with three whole frogs (getting fresh frogs from the markets was the difficult thing and get them to de-skin for you). Use 8 bowls of water and boil till you get 3 bowls over low heat half-opened top, season with salt. It actually tastes pretty good and the frog tasted well. Do that once a day. Eat some of the bitter gourd as well.

Most of the remedies are based on the concept of heatiness, which western medicine cannot and do not accept as a valid condition. Like I say, these remedies will not kill you and the fact that friends who have had dengue also gave similar remedies (esp the soup) lends credence to the remedies.

Hey, you are supposed to have a no cure sickness, why not try a no-side-effects remedy!? Of course, you should do that and check into the hospital at the same time as they need to do a blood count thingee regularly to see if the count is dropping. If it drops to a precarious level they may have to resort to some blood transfusion - so its not a small matter. With or without the remedies, one MUST take a blood test every day to check the count. If its dropping, its not good.

However, thankfully my count recovered immediately following taking the remedies and continued to improve quickly. Yes, I may have had a mild one and might have been improving on my own anyway - but the soup really made me feel much better almost immediately, can sleep soundly even.