After a few days, he came down with fever and it happened to be Friday the 13th morning ....a coincidence ?
He had a very high fever, hitting 39.2 C and hovering in the 38 C range. Even after sponging him with wet towels and asking him to take a shower, the fever refused to come down. So after dinner, we decided to return to the clinic but it was closed so we went to a 7x24 clinic instead. They could not find anything wrong and the medication given seems correct so we went home.
That night, his temperature continued to hover between 38 and 39 C and he shivered quite badly when I sponged him with a few wet towels, a few times. Eventually, I gave up as I was too tired from lack of sleep... around 4am.
On Sat morning, I called the clinic and after discussing with the GP his condition and also the fact that there was at least once case of dengue fever in our area, I took Jas to the hospital lab to test for dengue fever.
After 2 hours of waiting, the GP called me and that Jas indeed has dengue fever but his blood count was still within range but at the lower end, borderline... at 156!
The GP actually was quite sure that it is not dengue fever as typically, it does not come with a sore throat and cough but just high fever only.
But I was not comfortable with it and I know that Jas normally would have a day of fever only and not as high as 38C and above so I was more concerned than ever.
I am glad that the GP realised my anxiousness and offered me the option of doing 3 blood tests; one for dengue fever, another for the blood count and another to identify if the fever is caused by bacteria or virus ( antibiotics can treat bacteria fever but not a virus fever and you have to ride it out ).
Now, we know what we are dealing with and able to handle it better and not second guess on what could be happening.
My advice to you is that you must know your children well to be able to spot any unusual deviation and then pursue the matter accordingly.
After confirming my son's dengue fever, we shared the news with our neighbours so that they could take some precaution as it is so near to them ( eg spray Shelltox and put on mossie repellant ). One of them called me for more info as their son has been having a fever and other complications like mouth ulcers for almost 7 days but the Dr did not think it is dengue fever. I suggest that they take him for a blood test to either rule it out or confirm that it is indeed dengue fever. It was confirmed that the son had dengue fever after the blood test.
It was painful to see my son shivered when I sponged him but once we knew it was dengue fever, we were able to handle the situation better and not worry unnecessary.
BTW, one concern I had was whether he could have some form of brain damage for having such a high temperature of 39C and above. The Dr assured me that it is quite safe as he is much older unlike if he is a baby or much younger. So this info was a big relief to all of us and I can sleep in peace even when he was still running a fever.
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