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Last October, Wendell Bailey was left panicking when he realised his 10-year-old son, Blayz Bailey, had the dengue haemorrhagic fever.

When he realised that his son’s fever refused to subside after two days, he decided that it was time to take him to the hospital

Bailey told THE WEEKEND STAR that he and his wife initially tried home remedies to treat their son.

“We were somewhat aware of dengue, so we used home remedies to try stopping the fever … so we stuck to Panadol and a lot of water. The first symptom that came to our attention was the fact that he had diarrhoea. That’s what led us to take him to the doctor. Having gone to the doctor, they said it’s a viral infection and they couldn’t do anything about it,” he said.

The Mineral Heights, Clarendon resident then took his son to the May Pen Hospital.

“He was admitted immediately. They put him on drip and realised that his tongue was very white. They said that he was dehydrated and needed to be hydrated right away. They didn’t tell us it was dengue. It was always suspected. They did a blood test right away and sent it off to the lab,” he said.

Bailey explained that though he’s a faithful man, he became worried about his son’s chances of survival when doctors told him that there was not much that they could do.

“I was always thinking that he’s going to be fine, that he’s going to get through, but when I started getting more information on dengue, I asked them (doctors) what else could be done. They said they could only give him water and Panadol. They explained that they didn’t have any other medication to give. They kept noticing his platelet count going down. When he went in it was 109 and it got to a low point of 59,” he recalled.

Bailey said that was what concerned him most.

“Because if the platelet keeps going down, then you would have fluid gathering in the body and after that you have bleeding. That’s where they say you do not want anybody to go. That was very concerning for the family,” he said. “He spent nearly a week in the hospital. They had some other children that he went there and saw and they left him there and that caused him to be a little depressed.”

Bailey said it was a relief for the entire family when Blayz was discharged, free of dengue.

“It was a big relief for everybody to see him coming home and sleeping in his own bed. He has brothers and sisters so they were starting to get worried. Of course, thanks to the doctors and nurses because he was tired and frustrated and wanted to go home, but they were patient,” he said.