TREATMENT OF DENGUE FEVER; ALLOPETHIC, HOMEOPATHIC, HERBAL, FOOD AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

PROF WAQAR HUSSAIN

         

             

           Dengue fever is caused by four closely related serotypes DV1, DV2, DV3 DV4 virus of genus flavivirus. Dengue fever is on the rise in world, present in almost all continents with special outbreak in tropical and sub tropical region.  

               According to World Health Organization dengue has increased 30 folds worldwide in the last 50 years.  About 3 billion population of the world is vulnerable to dengue fever. It is present in about 112 countries of the world. Every year about 350 million people are infected with dengue virus resulting in deaths of 25,000 people. Unfortunately, no medicine for treatment is available. Many countries are making Herculean efforts to develop anti-dengue vaccine; many are at the stage of animal trial and some have reached to human level tests. It is expected that vaccine will be launched in 2014 or 2015. In the mean time, we have to look for other methods of treatment:        

Allopathic Treatment:

              Dengue fever has four type according to intensity, body resistance, type of virus and number of attack; Benign Dengue which is almost asymptomatic; Dengue fever(DF); Dengue Hemorrhage Fever(DHF) and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS):

               

ASPIRIN

IPUBRUFEN

In case of dengue fever, patient should be given complete bed rest. Paracetamol(anti pyretic drug) and cold water dressing should be used to lower the temperature. Never

DICLOPHENIC

give patient Aspirin (acetyl salicylic acid), Ibuprofen, Ponstan ,Diclophenic as they increase the risk of bleeding. The patient must be given liquid profusely.

           

           In case of DHF, the above treatment is given to the patient, however, antipyretic medicine is not must effective in case of DHF. Vomiting, nausea, anorexia is accompanied by high grade fever and pains in DHF. Vomiting leads to dehydration so ORS (oral rehydration salt) and fruit juices must be given to the patient. Patient must be monitored and treated carefully if need glucose drip should be applied.

                In case of DSS, glucose drip is mandatory and sometime blood transfusion is carried out.

Homeopathic Treatment

               

        Dr Tajammal Hussain Bukhari told an effective dengue control prescription from homeopathy.  Bryonia, Rhustox, Ipecoc, China, Eupaturrium 30 Crotalis 200 are given once in a day. Sri Lankan homeopathic doctors prescribe Blancha Tincture, it increases platelets count.

Herbal Treatment

1. The juice of papaya leave is given to patient. This food therapy had been in use since Jahangir’s period.

2. There was a woman in Lahore whose all family was suffering from Dengue. She went to a Hakim (Doctor of Herbal medicine) who prescribed: “Add mint, aniseed, cardamom in water and boil and then cool it. Use this liquid extract in place of ordinary water. All his family recovered in a day or so. Then the lady went from hospital to hospital to tell people this herbal treatment.

 

Food Therapy

 

1. Give patient a mixture of apple juice by adding a little lime juice, it is said to increase platelets counts.

2. Citron is considered an effective food therapy by many nutritionalists.

3. Guava is also effective food.

4. Tomato has been reported by many to be efficacious.

5. In Sri Lanka, patient is given sugarcane juice with addition of small amount of beet juice and lemon juice.  

Psychological Therapy

         Dengue fever dreads disastrously and anxiety, fear, distress grip the patient alarmingly, making him “Denguephobiac”.It reminds me a German maxim: “Fear a mouse and he will become a wolf.”Out of 230 million infected people each year, only 20% develop any symptom and only 1 million are hospitalized. Among the 20% who shows symptom, 15% develops dengue fever which is not fatal and remaining 5% gets dengue hemorrhage fever which is serious. And among these 5% only 1% dies (more exactly 0.87%).So there is no need to get panic which is more dangerous than dengue.

             Take the example of snake-bite. Only 10% land snakes are poisonous but snake bite deaths are more than 10% as most people die from “fear” rather than poison. So, shed the fear. Take another example from two English idioms- “Cat has nine lives” but “care killed a cat”. Dread is disastrous so there is no need to turn ‘hypochondriac’ and ‘denguephobiac’ as there is a maxim in medical science: “Two and two are not four, it is twenty two.” It means if there is malady of intensity “two” and you have a dread  and make it to the tune of “two”. The total malady will not be of the value of “four” but will be “twenty-two”. So, shed off the fear and trust on God. It is how one can detonate dengue dread!

              My father Nazar Hussain(an English poet and writer) used to say: “Think you are rich, rich you become; think you are wise, wise you become; think you are healthy, healthy you become….” So ask yourself that I am healing, I am getting better, I will fight with this disease…you will be healthy soon. If you don’t believe me, try it, you will get the answer.

NOTE: SCIENTIFIC PROOF OF ABOVE MENTIONED HERBAL AND FOOD THERAPIES IS NOT AVAILABLE.BUT MANY PEOPLE REPORTED THEM EFFICACIOUS; “VOICE PEOPLE, VOICE DIEM.”