Virus Attack

Caution : Long boring post ahead. Recorded for future reference. :-)

XY has been skipping school since Monday. She's having fever, red throat and a bit of runny nose. It started on Friday afternoon (temperature was below 38ºC). After that, her temperature has been going up and down but always below 37.5ºC (which meant no fever). Then suddenly on Sunday morning, it was 38+ºC. PaPa brought her to see the paediatrician. They were there for almost 2 hours because there were so many patients. When doctor checked her temperature, it was 39ºC. He said her throat's very red and prescribed antibiotics in hope for a speedy recovery. At critical times like this, better not risk a secondary infection.

Throughout Sunday and Monday, her temperature was below 38ºC. Then on Monday night, it started to rise. Gave her paracetamol before bedtime. At 7+ the next morning (Tuesday), the thermometer showed 39.2ºC. Administered a suppository and brought her to the clinic again. Doctor said her throat has improved a little (less red). It doesn't look like dengue fever or A (H1N1). He asked us to monitor her for the next 24 hours to see if a blood test is necessary.

While having lunch, she told me she's very cold. And I knew her temperature must be rising very fast. When I gave her paracetamol, it was 38.7ºC. One hour later, it was not subsiding (39.6ºC) so I inserted the suppository. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Hope I didn't overdose her. I also sponged her with a wet towel. It took some time to coax a tired and sleepy sick child out of bed into the bathroom. But luckily she's quite cooperative, at times.

To have a peace of mind, PaPa brought her to a nearby hospital for a blood test in the evening. She was only tested for dengue fever and it's negative (phew!). The doctor prescribed Fluhalt, the anti-viral medicine coz her result indicated a viral infection.

This round, her fever is the 'fast and furious' type i.e. come back and reach very high in a short time. Paracetamol takes a long time to take effect so I've been inserting suppository as her temperature was above 39ºC. Within 24 hours since yesterday morning, she's had 4 insertions (the last one at 6am today). Hopefully that'll be the last one.

At 2:30pm (8 hours after the last suppository), her temperature started to go up. Although it was only 37.4ºC, I gave her paracetamol to prevent it from going too high. Looks like there's improvement as her fever takes a longer time to come back. Hopefully her fever has subsided for good.

Overall, she's still active and playful. She feels tired and sleepy when the fever's very high, after taking her medicines, and also when I asked her to do her homework. :-) The virus seems to be very strong as she usually recovers quite quickly when infected. We're very worried that didi may catch it. But it's really tough to separate the kids. They're like magnets. No matter how many times we remind them to stay away from each other, they'll end up playing together again. I've asked her to wear a mask at home. But she doesn't put it on all the time. Well, I know it's rather uncomfortable, so I let her be. Just have to remind (and shout at) them whenever the 2 magnets are stuck together.

~ one of her 'good girl' moments ~