Irving, a college student who helps us at church and spends weekends in our home, came down with the Dengue Fever Monday. Then his roommate caught it. There is a mini epidemic and over 200 people have caught it here in Puerto Rico.
Tina and I both have had it a few years ago, but there is no immunity to the Dengue. Sometimes I don't mind being a little sick as I can take a break, catch up on my reading, etc. But I have had the Dengue and would rather not do that again. You get a fever and a bad headache for a couple of days. Then it seems to go away for a day or two. Then, surprise!, the soles of your feet and palms of your hands itch like crazy. To cap it off, the fever comes back for another round that lasts one or two days more. It thins your blood and dehydrates you to, so you can't take aspirin with it. All this is bad, but afterwards you feel as weak as a baby. That is the worst part for me. It leaves you without any strength , or even desire to do anything, even read. It takes about a month to get your "get up and go" back from wherever it went.
Please pray for Irving. He is far from home (Barcelona, Spain) so we are trying to take extra good care of him. Irving and his roommate Gabriel (from Madrid, Spain) are quarantined to their dorm. Contact is discouraged between them and other students to inhibit the spread of the Dengue. Poor guys! Irving is a great help with our youth. The teens really respond well to his ministry and he will be missed during the weeks he is incapacitated by this tropical disease.
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A summary of the Dengue from a medical site:
How is dengue fever transmitted? Dengue virus is transmitted to humans through mosquito bites. The mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is a local, urban mosquito, that likes to bite people during daytime, especially two hours after sunrise and a few hours before sunset. It has white stripes on some of its legs.
Symptoms of dengue fever include:
Seldom Fatal (Yikes!), High fever for three to five days. Severe headache. Muscle and joint pain. Eye pain. Nausea and vomiting. Skin rash. In severe cases, the patient may present with bleeding and shock, and can die from the disease.
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