DENGUE FEVER in Jamaica: What to look out for and what to do (naturally)

DISCLAIMER: This information is not intended to treat or diagnose any disease. This is strictly for informational purposes. Knowledge is power!

Dengue fever is on the rise again in Jamaica. There have been over 100 cases reported including one confirmed death of a child as of January 2019...which has left some mamas worrying. This post was inspired by a special request from a special mama seeking more information on how to protect herself and her cubs. 

There are two main things I want to accomplish with this post:

1.  Go one step beyond the generic information available to help you understand HOW the virus affects the body and WHY early recognition/attention is so important.

2.  Share details of three specific herbs (and list a few others) that have shown promising anti-dengue properties both in vitro and in human clinical trials.

OK, so you know dengue fever is caused a virus that is transferred via a mosquito. There is a blood test to confirm whether or not you actually have dengue fever, but during an outbreak, most diagnoses can be made from the symptom picture. 

HERE ARE THE CLASSIC SYMPTOMS TO WATCH FOR:

1.    FEVER (high – around 40C/104F - and sudden)

2.    Bone and muscle pain. You can also have joint pain and eye pain. 

3.    A rash

4.    Nausea or vomiting

If you have just these symptoms you can be cared for at home with adequate hydration, rest and natural fever and pain management strategies. Your symptoms may be bad enough where you chose to take over-the-counter Panadol/Paracetamol/Tylenol to help reduce the fever and pains. 

NOTE: Panadol is not my favorite medication. When taken in high amounts or for extended periods of time it can cause liver damage. But as with all things in medicine, there is a risk/benefit analysis one must make. Maximum should be 60 mg/kg/day in children; 4 g/day in adults.

DOUBLE NOTE: AVOID ASPIRIN and IBUPROFEN! These can cause bleeding complications and a serious illness in kiddos called Reyes syndrome. 

OK, now...The BLEEDING is what I want to draw your attention to.  

IF YOU EXPERIENCE THE SYMPTOMS ABOVE, BLEEDING IS A WARMING SIGN THAT THE INFECTION IS GETTING MORE SEVERE. The bleeding can be in the form of a nose-bleed, blood in vomit, stool, urine, or from the vagina, or you may even notice small red spots under the skin (petechiae).

But WHY does this bleeding happen, Dr. K?

Dengue fever causes this interesting thing to happen in the body: it causes your blood vessels to become LEAKY. In other words, both fluids and blood cells can leave the vessels and leak into spaces in the body where they don’t belong. This can cause abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, restlessness, and severe lethargy. 

In fact, so much blood can leave the vessels that it can lead to SHOCK -- your pulse gets weak and rapid and your blood pressure falls significantly because there is so little blood in the vessels. It is at this stage that dengue can cause organ damage, loss of consciousness or respiratory distress and kill you. 

THIS IS THE STAGE WHERE AGGRESSIVE THERAPY IS REQUIRED. If you notice bleeding, if you are vomiting persistently, if your belly hurts really bad – GO TO THE HOSPITAL!

There is no miracle drug that they will give you at the hospital because it simply doesn’t exist (viruses are too damn smart for us to figure out how to kill them without killing ourselves). So guess what the treatment is? REHYDRATION.  

Hydration sounds like a over-simplified treatment for such a serious illness, right? But think about it: the issue with dengue is that fluid is LEAVING the cells, so the best treatment is to REPLENISH that fluid. 

In the early stages, oral rehydration is sufficient: water, electrolytes, minerals. But in the more severe stages, there is a specific ratio of nutrients and water and a specific rate of entering the bloodstream that is key to safe rehydration. This is why a medical facility is required. Depending on how serious it is a blood transfusion may also be necessary, or treatment for other things such as respiratory complications. 

FYI: pregnancy, infancy, old age, and other disease can make dengue even more complicated so always seek medical attention sooner than later in these cases.

  

OK. Done with Aim #1. I hope you now understand what to look for and when to seek help. 

Before I get to Aim #2, let me simply mention some KEYS to preventing dengue:

1.  Maintaining a healthy immune system with adequate nutrition, sleep and minimal stress. There are also TONS of herbs and nutrients that can be used to boost the immune system, but I won't focus on those in this post.

2.  Eradicating the vector with control of mosquito replication (removing/covering standing water, fogging – yikes!), preventing bites (clothing that covers the skin, mosquito repellants, closing doors, using screens etc). 

You know these things. 

So what if you think you have dengue fever and we want to treat it to shorten the length of time of the illness, treat the symptoms or prevent it from getting more severe?

HERBS! They are way smarter than us and just get it somehow.

Here are three herbs known to have specifically anti-dengue properties:

1.   PAPAYA (LEAF) Carica papaya. Papaya leaf extract is the only known herb studied and found to be effective in human clinical trials. The most rigorous one showed that patients receiving the juice of 50g of papaya leaf once daily for 3 days had better platelet counts than those receiving standard of care. The finding suggests that it may prevent the bleeding complications of dengue. Other studies showed similar results as well as the improvement of symptoms. 

2.   BONESET (FLOWERING TOPS): Eupatorium perfoliatum. This is a CLASSIC herb for treating muscle and bone pain and reducing the fever that comes with dengue fever. It has been used in many parts of the world traditionally for this purpose and I have antidotes from well-respected doctors in the field of it being a very effective treatment. You can make a tea by boiling and steeping the fresh or dried flowering tops and drinking 1 cup every 2-3 hours (3-5 g per 250 ml water). You can also get a tincture (an alcohol-based extraction) and take 3-5 ml every 2-3 hours. Do not use the preparations for more than 7-10 days as long-term use can damage the liver. 

3.   FEVERGRASS/LEMONGRASS (LEAVES): Cymbopogon citratus. Most people in Jamaica know that lemongrass is a great mosquito repellant (it is used in candles, a topical applications on the skin etc). But you can also use it internally – again as a tea or tincture to reduce the high fever that comes with dengue. It contains a compound called CITRAL that has shown specifically anti-flaviviral effects (dengue is in the “flavivirus” category). For the tea, boil and steep 5-10g per 250ml water. Drink a cup every 2-3 hours until fever clears. 

      

     I particularly like the idea of using it as a steam bath to help drive down the fever – this prescription comes directly from Maroon Herbalist, Iveyn Harris, in her book "Healing Herbs of Jamaica":

“Add 8 oz fever grass to 10 L cold water in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil. When the bath starts to boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside one cup to drink before pouring bath into bath pan. Place two flat pieces of board across the pan. Sit on the boards and cover with a sheet or towel for 10-15 minutes. By then, sweating will start. Use a bath rag and wash from head to feet.You should start to feel the fever leaving your body. After bathing, drink the cup of tea you set aside and go to bed.”

Honorable mention for herbs also shown to have anti-flavivirus activity in vitro be included in your prevention/treatment regimen:

·     Tumeric

·     Frankincense

·     Licorice

·     Green tea

·     Ginger

·     Neem

·     Goldenseal

·     Spearmint

·     Peppermint

OK! Wishing you health and plenty mosquito killing!

Here are the articles and books I referenced to write this post: 

1.  Eric Yarnell. "Herbs for Emerging Viral Infectious Diseases." Alternative and Complementary Therapies August 2016. Vol 22 No 4.

2. "Eupatorum perfoliatum" Herb Monograph by Eric Yarnell. Bastyr Universty, Department of Botanical Medicine 2007. 

3.  "Dengue fever virus: Clinical manifestations and diagnosis", "Pathogenesis, "Prevention and treatment" Uptodate.com. Accessed January 6, 2019.

4.  Ivelyn Harris. Healing Herbs of Jamaica. AhHa Press Inc. 2010

5.  Simone Morgan-Lindo "Parents lose their only child to dengue fever". The Jamaican Star. January 04,2019. http://jamaica-star.com/article/news/20190104/parents-lose-their-only-child-dengue-fever. Accessed January 6, 2019. 

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