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Man Who Got Dengue 3 Times & Required 3 Packs of Blood Reminds Us About The Dengue Epidemic

Rae Woo

2020-08-06 , 2:05 pm

What’s more unlucky than getting dengue fever once?

Getting dengue fever twice.

And what’s even more unlucky than that?

Yep, getting dengue fever thrice, which is a very real story that happened to an actual Singaporean man.

Dengue Fever Is Still Here

It’s easy to lose sight of other things happening around us when we’re caught up with larger problems.

The biggest issue facing the world in 2020 is the global COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s mostly everything that is talked about these days.

However, in the face of this dangerous health threat, many Singaporeans might forget about the importance of our old, long-time enemy: dengue fever.

That and the fact that the cases have been rising to an all-time high in recent months as well.

2020 saw 17,249 cases of dengue fever thus far, and the number is expected to break the record of the most cases ever reported, which is 22,170 cases back in 2013.

Just recently, Singaporean Marklin Ang took to Facebook to share his own deadly experiences with dengue.

He hopes that his post will remind everyone about the danger of dengue fever and how it could bite you in the ass. Literally.

Third Time’s A Charm

Ang shared that he had experiences with contracting the three main strains of dengue fever in Singapore, with the first sadly happening on his NS enlistment date.

A terrible backache and burning fever led him to wake up in the middle of the night, and he subsequently went to the hospital for a blood test, where they confirmed that he had dengue fever.

Despite his pain, he was afraid to miss his enlistment and even asked if he could go and enlist, then return back to the hospital. Dude deserves a salute.

He did not elaborate on his second dengue infection but went on to talk about it in his third.

In 2017, Ang caught dengue fever yet again, but it had evolved to something worse than his first infection.

With a fever of over 40 degrees Celsius, he required a heavy blood transfusion of three whole packets of blood.

He also recounted that he was “pale and laid motionless on the hospital bed”, with the same horrible backache. Thankfully, he’s all better now, though.

His Mom Contracted It Too

Sadly, the disease didn’t just stop with him in the family, for his mother also recently fell victim to it two weeks ago, due to them residing in a red alert dengue cluster.

Ang felt for his mother as she was an elderly, saying that she must have suffered more than him, and wished it wouldn’t happen to her or anyone else ever again.

Fortunately, Ang’s mother has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering well, after being tested negative for the COVID-19 swab test as well.

Dengue Fever Could Cause Permanent Damage

Ang also went on to share about some after-effects of dengue fever, including “unbearable” backaches and permanent brain damage.

He shared that his short-term memory had been degrading ever since, and does not seem to be getting any better, but is coping with his interest in taking photos to preserve memories of day-to-day life as he fears he might lose his memory one day. Oh no.

Take Precautions Against Dengue Fever

Ang’s post serves as a reminder for Singaporeans to be wary about dengue fever, and to take precautions against it lest it affects you too.

You’ve probably heard of these before, but some precautions to take can include:

Getting rid of stagnant water in pails
Changing the water in flower vases on alternate days
Covering bamboo pole holders
Use mosquito repellent

Let’s all do our part to fight against not just COVID-19, but dengue fever as well.