This Is My Brain On Dengue Fever

Being sick is a miserable experience no matter where you are. Being sick in Cambodia is no different, but some comfort can be found in that the Peace Corps staff here is trained and ready to deal with whatever illness you might have. Medical emergencies are taken very seriously because the kinds of medical threats that we face here on a daily basis are quite serious. I have seen this attention first hand recently, I have recently come down with a case of dengue fever.

The virus that causes this condition is transmitted through mosquito bites, which are unfortunately impossible to avoid. Even though I have gone through a great many precautions to protect myself from the little vampires, there are simply too many of them around to really be one hundred percent safe from their bite. You can hide in your nets and wear as much bug spray as you want, but the mosquitoes will simply bite you when you are toweling off after a shower, or walking to the bathroom in the morning. However, what I have seems to be a mild strain of the virus, which is the reason why I can type this entry. However, the story of what happened to me this week is probably worth putting down in words.

This past weekend I was in Kampong Cham for an in-service language training session with some of the Peace Corps staff from Phnom Penh. On Saturday afternoon, a sudden rash started appearing on my face and neck, which began to spread elsewhere on my body. It was sort of blotchy, which was lightly red and smooth to the touch. It did not itch, but it definitely looked strange. Alarmed by this, I called our Peace Corps Medical Officer (PCMO). I described my symptoms over the phone to her, and she told me that it was probably an allergic reaction. I took some Benadryl, but the rash did not go away. Later that evening, I began feeling tired and feverish. When I woke up the next morning, the rash had spread to the rest of my body, a hundred degree fever was racking my body, and a splitting headache was pounding nails into the front of my head. I called the PCMO, and she told me to get to Phnom Penh as soon as possible. Since some of the Peace Corps staff was already in Kampong Cham, I hopped into their van on Sunday morning and got a ride into Phnom Penh. Both, the driver of the van, said to me during the ride, "You know when Cambodian people get like that, they just take a cold shower and they're fine. But you Americans, I don't know..."

I persuaded the staff driving the van to bring me to Royal Ratanak Hospital, where I met the PCMO. I waited in the waiting room of the hospital for a few minutes before the PCMO and I met with a US trained Cambodian doctor. Before the meeting, several people moved away me when I sat down. Apparently, I looked that bad. Both the PCMO and the Cambodian doctor examined me, took my blood and urine, and put me into a very comfortable hospital room.

The room where I spent the following two days was the nicest hospital room that I have ever been in. Imagine a room in a very nice luxury hotel, and then put a hospital bed in there. Not only did I have a wide-screen TV, but also a couch, a chair, wooden closet, a microwave, a refrigerator, air conditioning, and my own bathroom. A fresh white towel and a pair of clean scrubs were provided to me every afternoon. The food in the hospital was not very good, but I suppose that that is to be expected of hospitals anywhere in the world. Since Royal Ratanak Hospital is owned by a big hospital complex in Thailand, most of the nurses who I interacted with were Thai instead of Khmer. I tried asking them about the political situation in Thailand right now, but the most I got in response was a laugh and shaking of the head.

Over the last few days, the virus has run its course. The fever dissipated after a day, and the rash seems to have faded by now. The headaches are still there off and on, but they have mostly gone away. What is peculiar about my condition is that what I have seems to be a very “atypical” case of dengue. This is fine by me because I enjoy being anything but typical. This is also good because other cases of dengue can be much worse than what I have. Other people who have had this have told me that the symptoms usually begin a high fever that lasts for several days before getting the rash. The fever that I had did not last for very long, but I did have the headaches that usually accompany the onset of the infection.

Right now I am sitting in the volunteer resource room of the Peace Corps office in Phnom Penh. The PCMO wants to watch me over the next few days to make sure that my condition does not worsen, but since my energy is up I do not think that it will. If it did worsen, then they would have to move me to a larger and more sophisticated medical center where I would undergo blood transfusions. Dengue fever does something to lower both the platelet and white blood cell count in your body, and the only treatment in this case is to have daily blood transfusions. The nearest place where I could have this done is in Bangkok, but since political demonstration in Thailand has closed the main airport they would have to move me to Singapore. I personally would not mind going to Singapore, but perhaps under different circumstances. Also, getting blood transfusions in any third world country is among my worst nightmares.

I really hope it does not come to that, and that I get well soon. I would be upset at my present situation, but getting diseases like this is a risk you take when you sign up for this job. Consider it an unintended consequence of a tropical lifestyle.