My child lost his appetite, had headaches and joint pain. On the second day, his symptoms got worse. He began experiencing abdominal pain and there were signs of trouble with his liver. He also started having difficulty breathing as fluid began to enter his lungs. That second night in the hospital was a terrifying experience. The machine that monitors blood pressure and heart rate started beeping. It turned out my child was experiencing bradycardia where the heart rates drops very low. He had to stay in the hospital for about five days until he fully recovered.

I went to the doctor on the second day of my fever but the dengue tests kept on returning negative. The doctor was stumped as to what it was. It was only on day 5 of my hospitalisation that the test turned out positive. Besides the fever, my skin was burning - very sensitive to touch and even materials. My bones were aching so badly. It felt like someone was constantly trying to break them from the inside. I was very lethargic and weary for about 2 months. I’d fall asleep even when I was actively working on my laptop.

Three out of my five children had dengue. It all happened within the span of a single day. I still had to go to work, with two of the siblings at school, my wife had to take care of everything. We took turns caring for our children in the hospital because all three children had been admitted. Even after our child was sent home, she was still not in a good condition. The hospital told us that all they could do is monitor our children closely and try to prevent it from getting worse.

I had fever initially and then cough. I felt very weak and very unstable – emotionally, physically. I could not do my work at all. On the fourth day, my fever stopped but I had very bad diarrhoea, vomiting and chills all over my body. And that’s when I started to get the rashes. I did not think that I had dengue until I started getting the rashes.