Dengue Fever

Finally I get to fill you in with some news from us. As already mentioned for a clean and polish of the yacht we moved JUCA into the Marina. After cleaning our JUCA thoroughly and doing some maintenance to be once more inspected by a potential buyer, we enjoyed a couple of extra days in the Rodney Bay Marina. After the family fun day the Marina put on a free breakfast for the cruisers, which we enjoyed very much. Unfortunately it was a rainy morning, still I got the chance to talk to some interesting people. Julia and Carlos made the most out of it staying so handy to land. Every morning they got up and went out to search for some friends to play with, some crabs to catch and experiencing land underneath their feet. The day we were ready to leave the marina we did our last minute grocery shopping and Sven already mentioned that he did not feel that great. However he managed to do the shopping with me and when we came back he said he would just lie down for a minute ….and that was it he did not get up until 6 days later. He had Dengue Fever! Dengue Fever is also known “as break bone fever. It is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquito. The virus has four different types; infection with one type usually gives lifelong immunity to that type, but only short-term immunity to the others. Subsequent infection with a different type increases the risk of severe complications. As there is no vaccine, prevention is sought by reducing the habitat and the number of mosquitoes and limiting exposure to bites.”
So there is not much you can do other than riding the fever out, and that what Sven had to do. Luckily I believe that he got away mildly, don’t get me wrong he has done his bit of suffering, but we did all we could to keep him as comfortable as we could. He got foot massages, lots of Reiki, made him fresh chicken broth, Vitamin C, water as well as plenty of TLC, hugs and rest. I think Carlos was really concerned and all of us are really happy that he is roaming among us again.