Berkley Center

Getting sick in Nicaragua made me realize how much trust we put in doctors in the United States. After I visited the first doctor abroad for an unexplained fever, he told me that I had parasites and prescribed me anti-parasite pills. However, a day later, after my second fever, my coworker wanted me to have a second opinion. She suspected it to be dengue fever based off of my symptoms, but I needed another blood test to know for sure. My second blood test came back positive—I had dengue.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne virus that causes high fevers along with strong headaches and joint pain, as well as some other unpleasant symptoms. During this year in Nicaragua dengue has been reported in almost 7,000 people and has left 20 dead. I was diagnosed with dengue classico—the more common and less dangerous form of the virus. There is no cure or no pill that will kill the virus; you just have to rest, drink a lot of liquid, and wait for the fevers to pass. Needless to say, after I was diagnosed I rested for two weeks and made sure the virus passed before I started doing anything else.

My situation was simple—I had the ability to stop everything I was doing and rest for two weeks; however, the situation for Nicaraguans is much different. Once I recovered and started working again, I began to look at situations differently. About a week went by and I was in a community and encountered a Canadian who had been living in the community for a few years. He was talking about some of the strict business policies in the region. The Zona Franca is a free trade zone that works with textiles. He explained to me that one of the reasons they have survived for so long was because of their strict attendance policies: when an employee misses one day of work, they have to work for two days without pay. After just recently recovering, I immediately thought—what if they had dengue. In this situation, especially if you and your family are not financially sound, there becomes a disincentive to rest and healthily recover from the virus.

In addition, my coworker—the one who took me to the doctor—also got diagnosed with dengue about a week after me. This was the second time she had been diagnosed with dengue, and with each additional exposure the worse the body reacts. She continued to work even after she was diagnosed with the virus. For this, the symptoms lasted much longer, and she was hospitalized for a weekend. While she was in the hospital, I visited her to see how she was doing. As health care is free in Nicaragua, she showed me the mosquito net, that the hospital had given her, with two giant holes in it. Private hospitals do exist, but they come with a cost. And my coworker did not want to go to the closest private hospital because a young man had almost died of dengue there because they did not take care of him correctly.

The government does take some action in combating the virus. They pass out informational pamphlets and give news segments on how to prevent contracting dengue. Additionally, there are constant fumigations targeting to kill mosquitoes and their eggs in the process. The very same day I was writing this blog, fumigators entered the house and started spraying the deadly gasses while I was still trying to pack up my computer and leave the house. Though intrusive, it definitely serves a beneficial purpose.

Other than the fact that I had dengue fever, it has been interesting to say the least, to experience how this virus affects Nicaragua and its people. It is an intrusive virus, and it is unfortunate that not everyone here can gain access to the medical attention or time off from work that they need.