Dengue Fever in Brazil / Dengue no Brasil

(Versao em portugues no final da pagina)

Dengue Mosquito ( Aedes aegypti)

Well, it’s been a while since I last posted here because my husband and I were on holiday in Brazil but then, even though we had used lots of sprays (OFF and Repelex), I was bitten by a lousy mosquito and had Dengue fever.

It started with a very high fever (around 38.5 – 39 C) and a splitting headache. At first we thought it was a heat stroke due to the fact that we were doing lots of activities in the sun and the temperature in Rio was around 40C. That was day 1.

To make a long story short:

1 – I spent 9 days in bed, dehydrated and had to go on a drip for 2 days (I went through 19 bags of drip!).

On a drip!

2 – My eyes hurt so much I could not keep them open.

Apologies for the picture but I really think it’s important to know what Dengue does to you

3 – I thought my brain had swollen.

4 – My platelets count was way bellow 140,000. It dropped from 111,000 to 101,000 in 2 days.

5 – On day 7, my feet were swollen and my palms and soles were very itchy.

Feet were so swollen my havaianas wouldn’t fit!

6 – I spent Christmas on a drip – did not spend it with the entire family as I’d planned to.

Anyway, I’ve decided to write this post to make people aware of the disease (especially with the Zika virus around as well). If you’re planning to go to Brazil, make sure you protect yourself and make good use of those sprays with DEET (check percentage on the labels).

There’s an epidemic in Brazil right now and when we got to the UK, my husband started with the symptoms and was diagnosed with Dengue fever as well. He stayed in bed for a week and during the same period, my father, who is in Brazil, also had it nearly as severe as mine.

They say  there’s a vaccine coming out soon, so fingers crossed it’ll work. Meanwhile, if you intend to go to Brazil, do some research and do not forget your sprays 😉

Back in the UK (on the mend)

Versao em portugues:

Bem, ja faz um tempinho desde a ultima vez que fiz um post aqui porque eu e meu marido fomos passar ferias no Brasil, mas aih, mesmo tendo usado varios tipos de spray (OFF e Repelex), eu fui mordida por um mosquito desgracado e tive Dengue.

Comecou com um febre altissima (por volta dos 38.5 – 39C) e uma dor de cabeca insuportavel. No inicio pensamos que pudesse ser insolacao pois haviamos feito bastante coisa no sol e a temperatura no Rio estava na casa dos 40 graus. Isso foi apenas o primeiro dia.

Pra encurtar:

1 – Passei 9 dias de cama, desidratada e tive que ficar no soro por 2 dias (usei 19 bolsas de soro!)

2 – Meus olhos doiam tanto que nao conseguia mante-los abertos.

3 – Tinha a sensacao de que meu cerebro havia inchado.

4 – Minhas plaquetas estavam bem abaixo dos 140 mil. Elas cairam de 111mil para 101 mil em 2 dias.

5 – No setimo dia, meus pes estavam inchados e as palmas das maos e as solas dos pes cocavam muito.

6 – Passei natal no soro – nao passei com a familia toda como havia planejado 😦

Enfim, decidi escrever esse post para alertar as pessoas da doenca (ainda mais com o tal do Zika virus agora). Se voce esta planejando uma viagem ao Brasil, certifique-se que voce esta protegido, use bastante os repelentes com DEET (verifique a porcentagem na embalagem).

Eh uma epidemia no Brasil no momento e quando chegamos no Reino Unido, meu marido comecou com os mesmo sintomas e foi diagnosticado com Dengue tambem. Ele ficou de cama por uma semana e na mesma epoca, meu pai, que esta no Brasil, tambem teve dengue quase tao severa quanto a minha.

Estao falando de uma vacina que esta para sair logo, entao vamos torcer que funcione. Enquanto isso, se voce tem intencao de ir ao Brasil, pesquise bastante sobre o local e nao esqueca seus sprays 😉