The Anti dengue Blog (1)

The Anti dengue Blog
What is dengue?
It is a disease spread mainly throughout the
tropical regions of the world, carried by the Aedes
mosquito. Annually is causes around 1.5 million
deaths around the world, and has no known
vaccine or cure.
About
Here at the anti-dengue blog, we aim to educate
people of the dangers of the Aedes mosquito and
the disease that it carries.
Projects
We have several projects to educate the people
about dengue. Some of them include a victim’s
diary and poser making competition.

Competitions*
Poster making competition
Theme: Dengue and its prevention
Deadline
The competition is open to all Sec/Year 1 and 2 students
from Victoria School.
Judging Criteria
Theme Relevance
Informative Quality
Design
Prizes
The prizes for the top 3 posters are branded footballs.
Submission
To submit your poster designs, please upload it to a Google
Document and share the document with this email:
dengue.blogger@gmail.com
We wish you the very best in poster designing!
*Please take note that all competitions on this page are only for the
students of Victoria School, Singapore, unless otherwise stated.

Victims diary
This is a diary consisting of the experiences of a dengue victim.
Waking up feeling feeble, I knew I was not my usual self. Touched my forehead and it
felt warmer than usual. I was running a fever. Dragging myself out of bed, I had to
wake up, get up to make breakfast for the children before they went to school. I
pushed myself to thinking positive; I could do it just like every day. I had to speed up,
my preparation as soon as soon as the children would wake up and time was passing
very quickly.
Finally managed to make egg and toast for the boys and they left for school with
nourished bodies. I crawled back to bed to rest. Little did I know I slept for another 2
hours. I thought that I might have had a cold last night. I took Panadol and hoped to
sweat the fever away and recover fast. I had tons of housework to do and I had to go
to the market to buy food and groceries for the family. I was feeling extreme fatigue
and kind of depressed. I did not feel like doing anything. I decided to make
alternative plans for the day as I would not be able to cook or clean the house. I
continued to sleep, wake up, drink lots of water, go to the toilet, rest in bed, read and
sleep again. At times I could not stand up as my legs were weak. I had no appetite
for any food at all. The fever did not go past 38 degrees Celsius but I just felt
miserable.
The fever went on for another 3 days and I knew this time it’s something more than a
plain cold. I went to see our family doctor. Dengue came to my mind, as there have
been many cases of it in my neighbourhood. The doctor recommended a blood test
and we went ahead. Results came back and I tested positive for dengue. I was
officially diagnosed as suffering from dengue. No medications for fever and itch. I
had a few red spots but that was about it. Not too many. Just right after the fever
had subsided.
The next few days were busy hospital visits. I had to go for blood tests every morning
as my red blood cell count was lower than average. My husband would drive me
there or I would take a taxi there. My head felt light and dizzy at times. At home, I
tried to rest as much as possible as I was still feeling weak. I could not do any major
housework. Family members came to help and I was thankful and grateful. 10 days
later, I finally managed to get the red blood cell count back to normal. I felt my
energy and strength had returned. I felt relieved and I felt good! I was back to
myself!

Dengue? What’s that?
Dengue.
We have all heard that name before.
But what is it?
The Dengue virus is a virus that is transmitted through the Aedes Mosquito, which is also
the carrier of yellow fever, the West Nile virus and the infamous Zika virus. It is spread
through the saliva of a female Aedes mosquito and thus, a single mosquito bite is all it takes
to spread the virus. Due to a high population of mosquitoes being present near the equator,
this disease is endemic to tropical and sub-tropical regions in the world.
Now you may be thinking, okay, but why is it scary? What does this virus do?
In a mild case of dengue, the disease is no different from a bout of flu. Moderate to high
fevers, headaches, rashes, joint pain and a small possibility of nausea and vomiting. Not too
nice but nothing to overly worry about either.
But a severe case of dengue on the other hand is just nightmare fuel.
All of the above mentioned symptoms come together with new symptoms to form the
monstrosity called Dengue Haemorrhagic fever. During this phase, victims will suffer high
fevers, extreme chills, rashes, joint pain, and internal bleeding.
Yes, you heard us right. During this phase, blood from inside our blood vessels will escape,
causing internal bleeding. Eventually this will lead to circulatory system failure and even
death.
Due to this, DHF patients need to be hospitalised as soon as possible and will usually need a
blood transfusion.
Pretty bad huh?
And because prevention is the best cure, our next post will focus on ways to prevent being
infected.
Until then, stay safe and goodbye!