Don't Get Dengue

If you have had Dengue Fever (aka Breakbone Fever, as well as a couple of other names), it should be enough for me to say that I have had it for the past few days.

If you are not familiar with the disease, I can tell you that (a) you don't want it, and (b) you really don't want it.

I don't remember when the first symptoms showed up (which, for me, was a very sore throat), but I think it was last weekend. When I went to the interview on Monday, I remember feeling a bit tired and low. After that things kind of get fuzzy. I remember things that happened, just not the order of them.

A high fever (104-105F) is typical, but I don't know what mine was (I have not seen a thermometer around at all). It was very painful when someone brushed up against my skin, or ran their hand across it, and everything that hurt before the fever hurt worse (5-10x worse) during it.

I was told (I think by Nadya) that the reason everything hurts is that the virus causes your blood to coagulate a little bit, making blood flow more difficult.

Headache? Check. Probably similar to a migrane. It was as if I could feel the lining around my brain pulsating every time my heart beat. Also, my inner ears felt like they were going to explode at times.

Basically everything is like having the flu, except 2x to 10x worse.

There is not a vaccine for Dengue Fever, though I hear they are working toward that.

I am feeling well today, as the fever broke last night. Though, I do still have a very sore (and swollen) throat, and my ears hurt a bit. Nadya took wonderful care of me while I was ill, and put up with some of my pretty bad moods as well (she even said she would do it all again!).

Should you be interested in more information about Dengue Fever, here is a search on it, and here are some links to specific sites I found helpful: Link, Link, also, the Wikipedia Entry (which is also the image source).