Knock on Wood

I went mountain climbing in Batangas last week, September 20. I don’t wanna say the name of the mountain yet until after I blogged about it (which is taking forever because I still have two places to blog about before that).

I was wearing this Penshoppe shorts I always wear when I travel, and short-sleeved t-shirt, which allowed the mosquitoes to bite freely into my arms and legs.

I actually had with me a bottle of OFF! but I forgot to apply it on my exposed skin before the climb. I only got aware of mosquitoes when we made a stop and saw them biting on my legs. And these were big ones. With white stripes on them. Ack! They were the dengue-carrying ones!

I know it’s kinda late but I frantically applied the mosquito repellant during that stop, and all the while fearing I have already contacted dengue.

When I got home that night, the first thing I did was to search the net about dengue. From medicinenet.com, I found this:

The virus is contracted from the bite of a striped Aedes aegypti mosquito that has previously bitten an infected person. The mosquito flourishes during rainy seasons but can breed in water-filled flower pots, plastic bags, and cans year-round. One mosquito bite can inflict the disease.

The virus is not contagious and cannot be spread directly from person to person. There must be a person-to-mosquito-to-another-person pathway.

Also:

After being bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus, the incubation period ranges from three to 15 (usually five to eight) days before the signs and symptoms of dengue appear. Dengue starts with chills, headache, pain upon moving the eyes, and low backache. Painful aching in the legs and joints occurs during the first hours of illness. The temperature rises quickly as high as 104 F (40 C), with relative low heart rate (bradycardia) and low blood pressure (hypotension). The eyes become reddened. A flushing or pale pink rash comes over the face and then disappears. The glands (lymph nodes) in the neck and groin are often swollen.

Today’s the eighth day since I went to that mountain. I’m (almost) past that usually five to eight period. But I still have seven more days to wait before I can rest my worries.

I had a light headache yesterday. You know that feeling of your head and eyes being heavy. But I’m without fever. Luckily.

I’m going to another mountain this Sunday, and it’s the thirteenth day since I was bitten by those big mosquitoes. But thirteenth day, I guess I would be pretty out of it by then. Hopefully.

And I guess it should be written in my itinerary to apply OFF! before starting the climb, and on each and every stop.

I’m also gonna use leggings and arm bands this time.