Win32 Virus Removal

MANILA, Philippines — Dengue is cruel since it takes the lives of the young. My first direct encounter with dengue was the death of a lovable three year old. She caught the disease from playing around her father’s mechanics shop.

It had fairly clean surroundings but there must have been pools of clean but stagnant water where mosquitoes deposited their larvae. A mosquito transferred the dengue virus from some older person whose body could control the effects of the virus and was then a carrier without suffering much from it.

But the virus took the life of the lively smiling three year old. Her parents thought it was an ordinary childhood fever. It was too late when they brought her to the hospital. The beautiful playful child was lost in less than two weeks.

My next direct encounter was of a promising high school boy. His parents were able to bring him to the hospital but again it was too late. The virus is not only cruel but also treacherous since his parents thought it was nothing serious.

They even allowed him to refuse to take the bitter medicine because he was not in mortal danger. He was strong and athletic. He had survived other fevers but not the dengue virus. None of his friends expected that he would succumb. His parents grieved for him to be taken in the prime of life. Coming from a middle class family, living in comfortable and clean surroundings, who would have thought that he would be a victim of this cruel and treacherous virus?

There are two effective local remedies: the less than a foot tall weed locally called “Tawa-tawa” and papaya leaf. (Of course to bring the patient to the hospital is the safest remedy if diagnosed for dengue or even suspicion of it for then blood transfusion can be done.) These two local remedies should be given immediately if available.

In both cases the whitish milk sap of crushed tawa-tawa or papaya leaf is quite bitter. But this can be easily masked with mixing it with coffee or orange juice. Tawa-tawa is abundant in most rural areas of the country but may not be recognizable to many.

Papaya is more easily recognized and available. Squeezing the juice of these leaves to make about a spoonful of the white sap is the traditional dose. Many swear by the effectiveness of this remedy. Since these are not drug store medicines, many doctors may not have heard about them or even look down on them but they are effective and have the advantage that it is available to all, including the very poor.

Of course the best remedy is prevention so that much is made of fogging and the use of mosquito nets. What is difficult with the mosquito that carries the dengue virus is that it breeds in relatively clean water, in holes, ditches, ponds, or anything that will hold water like plastic containers and coconut shells.

In our environments these water holding containers need to be overturned or prevented from holding water. Where there is a standing pool or pond, another safety remedy is to seed it with small fishes like guppies which feed on the larvae of the mosquitoes.

In sum the need is to prevent the mosquitoes from breeding because once mosquitoes are around they will be capable of transferring the virus from carriers to innocent children. Of course adults are also affected by dengue but they normally are able to survive a dengue attack after fevers. Young children however succumb to the virus before remedy can be applied.

In sum, clean surroundings do not guarantee freedom from breeding of mosquitoes. The need is for removal of breeding places, even clean ponds and pools. The next need is to diagnose the infection as soon as possible and bring the patient to the hospital for blood transfusion. And to use local remedies that have been proven as effectives such as juice from tawa-tawa or papaya leaves. <emeterio_barcelon@yahoo.com>