By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
I am sure everyone has heard of dengue. How about Zika? It sounds nice, like the name of a pretty girl. Chikungunya sounds like the family name of a distant relative overseas.
Well, nice as they sound, these three are names of three viral diseases. I wonder where these names came from. That’s for you to find out. But it does not matter actually. What you should know is that these three are examples of vector-borne diseases. Vectors are living creatures that carry disease-causing germs from one infected person or animal to another person. Vectors are usually tiny insects like mosquitoes and fleas and ticks. These insects usually do not get sick, they just happen to carry the germs in their bodies. In the case when mosquitoes bite a person, some of these viruses or germs are injected into the body and if your blood is fertile (meaning sugary and meaty), these germs will grow and multiply and make the person sick. So the mosquito does not only suck blood from its victim, they deposit first their cargo. In the words of a funny person, “tubbaan una nan lamok nan ipogao” before it sucks blood.
These three – dengue, Zika and chikungunya – have many things in common. Foremost is that these three are vector-borne diseases, specifically mosquito-borne diseases. They are transmitted through the Aedes mosquito, the famous day-biting mosquito. I am sure, though, that a hungry mosquito will bite anytime, day and night, unless this Aedes has night blindness and cannot see you at night. There are two types of Aedes mosquito – Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Again, you don’t have to check which type of mosquito is biting you because you won’t notice the difference with your naked eye and they fly so fast. Both of these carry the disease and both live and breed in clear, stagnant water. So in the Philippines and other tropical countries, any open stagnant water means potential danger and should be treated as such. More than 40 years ago, we only heard of dengue in Manila or the congested lowland cities. At that time, I remember seeing headlines of Manila tabloids bannering deaths from dengue hemorrhagic fever. At that time, also, I don’t remember mosquitoes in Besao or Baguio. Then dengue came to Bontoc, I guess it travelled through the bus from Manila and perhaps Bontoc started getting warmer so that these mosquitoes thrived. Then slowly but surely, this Aedes mosquito came up higher the mountains reaching Sagada and Besao and Baguio, which previously had no dengue. What does this mean? This means that we will be getting more and more communicable and vector-borne diseases in the future if we continue polluting and warming up Mother Earth.
So dengue is now here in the Cordillera. Later, came cases of chikungunya, fortunately none in Mountain Province. Then we hear of Zika, again none in Mountain Province. If we are not careful, it can easily reach us. Remember we are so mobile now- going there, coming here.
All these three viral diseases also have the same symptoms. They usually manifest as fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, poor appetite, with or without rash. But take note, many of those with the virus don’t manifest it. Meaning they are out there, feeling normal, mingling with people, working, but they may be carrying the virus. They could be you and me but because our immune system is strong, then we don’t get sick. Don’t worry because after a few days, these germs are knocked out and no more. You are no longer a carrier.
Those who experienced dengue may say that it really knocked them down. Sometimes, the headache and back pain of dengue is unbearable (pain is subjective, mind you) you might need painkillers but as long as you can tolerate, it’s better not to take any painkiller as these painkillers also lower fever. Fever is a built-in defense mechanism of our body to cook the germs so if you lower the fever, then the germs will happily multiply. By the way, your fever will not go so high if you are not a sweet or meat eater.
Chikungunya and Zika, as we stated earlier, have the same symptoms as dengue but milder. The danger with Zika, that’s why it made news is when it infects a pregnant woman, the baby could develop inborn abnormalities like microcephaly (small brain so small head than normal) or there may be stillbirth or prematurity. That’s what science is saying as of today. Otherwise, with a strong immunity, these diseases are like the ordinary flu. And treatment is the same – enough rest, plenty of water, bland food if the patient likes, and in a matter of days, you are well. Don’t force feed the patient because they might vomit it out anyway and because loss of appetite, like fever, is a defense mechanism which is meant to conserve energy to focus on healing. You know, eating and digestion take effort and spend energy. No medicines are necessary because these diseases are only good for 2 to 7 days, more or less. Even without us doing anything except rest and drink fluids, they will burn themselves out. In medicine, we call these kinds of diseases “self-limiting.” Isn’t that mind-boggling? But believe it because it is so. So don’t wonder how people in the past got well before the advent of western medicine, western doctors and hospitals.
Hydration is very important because fever makes water evaporate from the skin. You know that the patient is drinking enough water if the color of the urine is light yellow, not orange or dark yellow. Beware because dehydration is the cause of bleeding or hemorrhage in dengue. Studies show that even if the platelet count is low if the patient is well hydrated, then no bleeding will occur and the patient’s platelet count will go up automatically in time.
So then how can we prevent dengue, Zika and chikungunya and other potential communicable diseases? Please don’t look for vaccines. Our experience with Dengvaxia should be enough lesson that we should not depend on unnatural means of protecting ourselves. Why? Because God has given us a powerful built-in defense army inside us. This is our built-in immune system which is there since birth and works 24/7 even without our thinking. It has special “tokhang” forces that “smell” the enemy even from afar. The enemy is any foreign body like bacteria and viruses and parasites and cancer cells. How then do we keep our immune system strong? If you have been reading this column, you know this already. Gasgas na ito but we have to keep repeating. To keep your defense system strong, we need to eat naturally, organic, from the Garden of Eden. Minimize or avoid refined anything from sugars to flour to rice to all those highly-processed food. Minimize sweets including fruits, minimize animal products – meat, milk, eggs and all their by-products. And most of all, we need to have grateful hearts, care for others and trust God that He wills us to be happy, healthy and wealthy.***
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“All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small;
All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.” Anglican Hymn
