Dengue Fever

At the moment Cambodia is having an outbreak of Dengue Fever. At first I just heard about it on Radio Australia and read about it in the Phnom Penh Post, but now I’m starting to hear about fellow ex-pats having to be evacuated to Thailand because they are sick. And at time of writing my classmate has had a fever for 3 days (plus head and body aches and vomiting) and is waiting for test results.

Actually even when there is not an outbreak it’s always a threat. Before I came here my travel doctor told me about it. The other diseases she told me about she gave me shots for, but there is no vaccination for Dengue. I was told to wear insect repellant everyday. (Dengue is spread by mossies that bite during the day.) I was told to make sure my insurance included medical evacuation, so if need be I could be taken to hospital in Bangkok.

There are four different types. Mostly it’s like the flu- fever, aches etc. At its worse it can cause internal bleeding and then death. I was told that Khmer people think of it as a kids disease. I think they usually get it a lot when they are young, so if they survive to adulthood they are immune.