Dengue diagnosisBy CAROL MATROO Thursday, August 21 2008
There are six more confirmed cases of dengue in Freeport, in the communities of Chickland and Mission Road.
Dengue, spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, is now a major concern in the country, following the death of eight-year-old Sasha Bickram at the San Fernando General Hospital on August 10.
A copy of the child’s death certificate stated that the cause of death was due to dengue, acute bleeding, sickle thalesemmia (low blood count).
Health Minister Jerry Narace, although admitting that Sasha had dengue, maintained that the disease was not the primary cause of her death. However, he has disclosed that there are 120 confirmed cases in the country. Yesterday, some of the people who contracted dengue in recent weeks spoke to Newsday about their health scare.
When Nisha Bachan’s eight-year-old daughter Shereen Badal became ill with a high fever and was experiencing pain throughout her small body, she rushed the child to the doctor who at first said Shereen did not have symptoms of dengue.
However, Bachan’s concern for her daughter increased ten-fold because she lives opposite the house where Sasha lived on Mission Road, and Shereen began feeling ill again the morning that Sasha died.
“That is what had me worried. When one of the health workers passed around spraying, he said Shereen was not looking well and I should take her to the doctor,” Bachan said.
A blood test conducted on Shereen at Victoria Laboratories Ltd on August 14 tested positive for the presence of the dengue virus. Her doctor advised that she be taken to the hospital.
She was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, on August 15 where she was given medication and intravenous fluids (drips) and kept overnight for observation as her blood platelet level was low. Another blood test was done the next morning (August 16) before she left the hospital which showed that the platelet level had increased.
Taslima Hosein, 15, and her father Rasheed Hosein, who are from Mission Road, both contracted dengue on August 3.
Taslima said she began experiencing body aches, fever, nausea and dizziness after her father experienced similar symptoms the night before. They both had blood tests done which confirmed the presence of the dengue virus.
Although Taslima was released on August 12 after being warded at the San Fernando General Hospital for four days, she said she was still weak.
Teacher Delia Birbal, 29, thought she had an allergic reaction when her hands and feet began to itch. She got the fever on July 14 and went to the doctor the next day. She was given medication and sent home.
When the itching began, Birbal, who lives in Chickland, called a friend asking what she should buy for allergies.
“That’s when she told me that it sounded like dengue. But even when I went to the nursing home, the doctor told me I did not look like I had dengue,” Birbal said, adding that she still feels weak. She did a blood test at the nursing home and the result for the dengue virus was positive. She spent two days at the nursing home.
Businessman Jeewan Kurjah, of Mission Road, said he experienced “fever in the bones” on August 6 and thought he had the common flu. When he started feeling dizzy and was experiencing pain in his belly and back, he went to his doctor. The fever had passed by that time.
But the fever returned and this time, Kurjah went to Medical Associates in St Joseph for a blood test which proved positive for dengue.
“They admitted me one time because they said my platelet level was dropping. I stayed for four days and I received seven bags of drips. I am feeling better, but I’m still weak,” he said.
One resident of Mission Road, Ramona Sharon Kurjah, Sasha’s and Kurjah’s relative, said instead of putting doubts into the people’s minds, the Health Minister should try to put their minds at ease.
“He is trying to tell the people there is no dengue and that this is not a serious issue, but look at the amount of cases we have in close proximity. He needs to send people from the ministry to talk with the villagers.”
