News
Priya Ganness contracted dengue 13 years ago. – Photo courtesy Elliot Francois
AS dengue fever cases in Trinidad and Tobago increase, even resulting in two deaths, survivors are urging the public to take all mosquito-borne diseases seriously.
The Health Ministry has reported two dengue-related deaths and over 200 infections so far.
In addition, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (Carpha) said there was a 200-fold increase in dengue cases in the region.
Mosquito-borne diseases, viruses and viral infections, it said, could have a major impact on the region’s way of life and tourism industry.
Symptoms of dengue include high fever, headache, joint and muscle pains, pain behind the eyes, nausea, vomiting, among other things.
Survivors recall horror
Priya Ganness, 43, of Point Fortin, had dengue when she was 30. She told Newsday she was initially unsure what was wrong with her. She had extreme fatigue, a very high fever and “crazy pain.
“I couldn’t walk, I had to sit on the floor in the shower to bathe, I had to sit down and then put the toothpaste on my toothbrush, and then sit on the floor to brush my teeth. My hair got so dry – it was like straw, my whole chest turned red, and that’s when a friend came to check me and took me to the doctor.”
She was prescribed paracetamol to ease the pain. But that didn’t do much, she said.
“My feet, my knees, my joints – there was so much pain. Dengue was probably one of the top two most painful experiences of my life.”
On the current rise, she said she has been using insect spray throughout her house, as well as things like Bug Mat because she “doesn’t want to take any chances.”
And to those not concerned about getting the disease, she said, “Dengue is a thing that changes your life forever. Once you experience that, it’s like fasting outside the door of hell. You wonder if it’s going to kill you because it really pushes your body to the limit…You feel so weak that even drinking water is hard.”Even if a grown adult is not concerned about it, I cannot imagine a child having to go through dengue.”
Newsday columnist Debbie Jacob, 70, of St Ann’s, who got dengue when she was 45, recalled the pain being so terrible, she thought it would have been better to die than continue to experience it.
Debbie Jacob. –
“I was really, really sick and I went to the doctor, and he said, ‘Don’t even bother to get a test. I know it’s dengue.'”
But she added that it showed up in the results of subsequent blood tests.
“I had never felt like that before. It’s a living horror. It’s awful!
“I had a friend staying in the house with me at the time because my kids were about nine and ten years old and I would not have been able to take care of them. I was totally out of it. She said I was having hallucinations…You can’t eat, drinking is difficult because it just feels like a whole different layer of your body has been penetrated, and you have a horrific headache that feels like your eyes are coming out of your head.”
She, too, said medication did not help with the pain.
‘I hope I die’
Asked if there was any point at which she felt she would not survive, Jacob said, “To tell you the truth, my daughter got it also, and I said to myself, and she said out loud: I feel like I’m going to die and I hope I do.
“It is so horrific. You just don’t want the pain any more (so) you hope that you die.
“Your bones literally feel like they’re being pulverised. It’s not like a muscle ache, it feels like somebody’s crushing your bones. You can’t fall asleep, either.”
She said recovery took a very long time for her. In addition, after six months, she felt like “all of her teeth were falling out…
The Aedes aegypti mosquito transmits the virus that cause dengue fever. – AFP PHOTO
“It scared me enough that I made an appointment with the dentist right away. He took one look at me and said, ‘Oh, you’ve definitely had dengue within the last few months. You have a virus that settles in your mouth that we have only been seeing in being who have had dengue.'”
She was told it was very rare, and had to have reconstructive gum surgery.
“Covid19 was no picnic for me, but dengue was a thousand times worse.”
Another woman, 43, of Santa Cruz, who preferred not to be named said she got the disease twice in her 20s and it was “an experience (she) will never forget.
“I felt like if my skull was cracking open. The pain behind my eyes was terrible…”
The second time around, she had to go get blood tests done regularly to ensure there was no haemorrhaging. The World Health Organization (WHO) says those infected with dengue a second time are at greater risk of “severe dengue.”
Some symptoms of severe dengue include bleeding gums/nose, blood in vomit or stool, pale skin, and rapid breathing.
“At one point, I was like, ‘Okay, Lord, take me.'”
Upon learning there was a case increase locally, she said she has been both fearful and cautious.
“Don’t take it lightly at all. It is serious. I will not wish that pain on anybody.
A Jamaican man, who also preferred to remain anonymous, said he now urges his friends to take all the necessary precautions to prevent breeding of mosquitoes after his “intensely painful” experience.
Now 24, he said he got the disease when he was 18. He was trying to sleep in the night but struggling to do so.
A state vehicle sprays insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits dengue fever during a fumigation operation in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on July 12. – AFP PHOTO
“Then this pain gradually came on, especially in my stomach area. At first, I thought it was a regular stomach ache but it continue to intensify.”
He then started vomiting and had diarrhoea.
“I eventually settled in some random position and was able to sleep for one-hour increments.
“They wanted to take me to the hospital but movement was so painful, even if somebody touched me it was painful.”
After blood tests showed he had dengue, he was admitted to the hospital as the tests also showed he had a terribly low white blood cell count.
“My eyes were very red and I was told the capillaries in my eyes (were leaking).”
Owing to his low white blood cell count, he was put on a special diet. He could not have greens, as those would increase his iron levels; he could not eat anything with bones as doctors feared any cuts he got would cause internal bleeding. In addition, staff caring for him had to put on protective gear – but to protect him from them, and not the other way around.
“It was just pure pain.”
He said two people died from dengue there during his stay. In addition, at one point, news came on the TV talking about a different dengue-related death and staff were rushing to take it off.
Zika re-emerging in Caricom
Carpha said it received recent reports of confirmed cases of zika and chikungunya at its medical microbiology laboratory.
Symptoms of the zika virus, also spread by mosquitoes, include rash, fever, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain.
While chikungunya causes extreme joint pain and fever.
A Petit Valley zika survivor said she got a really bad rash and had extreme fatigue.
“Down to my bones hurt. I couldn’t move anywhere, I didn’t feel inclined to eat, I didn’t want to get up and use the bathroom…”
She got very dehydrated and had to go to the hospital to be put on drips.
She said cases were on the rise at the time so they had taken several precautions around their home.
“There was a moment in between my first and second trip to the hospital where I was feeling so bad, all the lights were off and a street light was on outside and I said, ‘This is a really bad view for it to be my last view.’
“Rolling over feels like your body is burning and someone is breaking you in half, you just feel so incapable (of doing anything).”
She is not surprised, though, at the recent increase in mosquito-borne diseases across Caricom.
“People are seeming to not think it’s serious. It feels like there’s a public opinion of, ‘It’s just dengue, it’s just zika, it’s just chikungunya.’ But you are completely non-functional for days and weeks at a time and in this constant pain. There’s no relief from the pain even with medication.
“I hope people start to take it seriously so we could actually start seeing people not just thinking (about) themselves but for others. Otherwise, we’re just all going to be in a crappy situation.”
A chikungunya survivor, of Point Fortin, said he felt very weak and had a fever and that the symptoms “hit him out of nowhere.
“I said I would (sleep for a while). When I got up and I tried to walk, joint pain like that. I nearly fall down on the stairs.
“After that, it just progressed. I started to feel nauseous and I started to get some swelling at the back of my head that was very painful.”
Precautions:
To lower chances of the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, Carpha suggests:
Check and remove standing water from around their homes
Ensure surroundings are clean and free of materials or containers that can accumulate water around homes and communities
Use wire mesh/screens on doors and windows to help reduce the entry of mosquitoes into homes
Water storage drums and tanks must be properly covered and inspected periodically to ensure that there is no breeding
Roof gutters should also be cleaned to prevent water from pooling.
