May 8, 2013

Do the Mozzie Wipeout

Dominique Advertorials, Parenting and Kids, Recommendations Dengue Prevention, Mozzie Wipeout, NEA

It is still Dengue Season here in Singapore. Have you been doing the Mozzie Wipeout?

Since the “ Do the Mozzie Wipeout” was kicked off last weekend the number of Dengue cases has risen even further. From  5023 cases to 5712 cases. That’s another 700+ cases within a week!!

I personally encountered Dengue fever when my late grandfather was stricken with the disease. Complications which arose from the bout of Dengue fever which he suffered from back in 2006 inevitably let to his death.

 

(My Grandfather’s Story)

 

My late grandfather has had a history of high blood pressure. When he was 84 years old he was inflicted with Dengue fever and it led to complications due to internal bleeding. He had to be hospitalized and had to have blood transfusion as his blood platelet  count dropped to a very dangerous level. While he was undergoing treatment at Alexandra Hospital he suffered a heart attack and had to be placed in the ICU for three days.  In all he was in hospital for about a month undergoing various treatments to deal with  Dengue fever and the complications that arose with it due to his advance age.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when he was finally discharged from the hospital and given the all clear. My grandfather couldn’t wait to return home and back to normal life after all the sufferings of being pricked and being subjected to numerous treatments while  being hospitalized.

Unfortunately, his time back home was short lived as he suffered another heart attack a month later. His body was weaken by the fight with Dengue and couldn’t withstand the impact of the 2nd heart attack. He passed away at home while my grandmother was out marketing one morning.

We were all sadden by his sudden departure  on the 26th of July which was 2 days before my grandmother’s birthday. The birthday celebrations that year for grandma had to be cancelled due to funeral.

Since that episode I had another mommy blogger share with me their experience with Dengue.

 

(My Husband’s Encounter with Dengue)

Jiahui from Mumseword.com shared with me the agony she had to go through  when her husband Edmund from Edunloaded.com suffered not from one but two attacks of dengue fever.

In 2008 Edmund contracted Dengue fever for the first time. Back then he suffered from high fever and had major body aches. He didn’t know that he had Dengue fever until it was Day 6 of the onset. It was only through the blood test conducted at the GP that he knew of his diagnosis.  He wasn’t hospitalized but had to take a blood test daily to monitor the blood count. He was tired all the time and didn’t even have energy to watch television or sit up. He was practically in bed the whole week.

The second time Edmund was conflicted with Dengue in 2011  he was hospitalized for  over two weeks for low blood pressure. This time the virus had hit him harder then the first time.

 

 

Staying in the RED zone I have taken some extra precautions to ensure that my home is free from stagnant water and there is no chance of them breeding inside or outside our house.

Here are the activities which I have done.

1)  Replaced the Bamboo Hole caps

 

It is important that you check that your bamboo hole caps are in “working order”. I was shocked to see the  condition of my bamboo hole caps when I checked it over the weekend. Some of the caps had fallen off or even broken off  due to the harsh local weather conditions. We hang our clothes indoors in the laundry area  so I haven’t noticed the state of the bamboo hole caps. It was really timely that I made a check over the weekend.

I used a bottle brush to check if there was any stagnant water within each bamboo holder before replacing the old caps with the newly purchased ones.

 

2) Checked for stagnant water in the 5 prone areas.