A dance teacher has described how she was left in crippling pain and coughing up blood after catching dengue fever during a 10 day trip to Bali.
Sydney woman Anjana Chandran, 30, and her partner left for the idyllic holiday island on July 8 to attend a friend’s wedding and returned on July 18.
‘I was being so careful, I was brushing my teeth with bottled water and only ate at places where the ratings were really good but I still got caught out,’ Ms Chandran told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.
According to the World Health Organisation, dengue fever is a virus spread from mosquitos to people and in rare cases can be deadly.
‘It’s weird because I actually didn’t see any mosquito bites,’ Ms Chandran said.
‘Oher people were really complaining a bit more about it but it was a really nice resort, we stayed in air conditioned rooms and I always used insect spray.
‘It’s so frustrating. Everyone else at the hotel for the wedding was fine.’
Ms Chandran said she first just felt chills and muscle aches, which she dismissed as a hangover, but after a few days was left ‘crying in bed’ with her whole body in agonising pain.
She ended up in the emergency room after bleeding when she went to the toilet.
Anjana Chandran, 30, and her partner left for Bali on July 8 to attend a friend’s wedding and returned on July 18
Ms Chandran said she and her partner landed in Seminyak on the island’s southern coast near the capital Denpasar and then went to Kuta.
‘The wedding was the only reason we were going which is why it was such a short trip.
‘We did two days in Seminyak and then we went to the wedding for about four days where we stayed at a resort which seemed fine.
She explained after the wedding the group booked a villa about 20 minutes away which is where she began to experience symptoms.
‘It was around the 14th. I was first just tired and I thought like, we’ve had a lot of wedding events, there was a lot of drinking involved, a lot of dancing. So I was like, look, it’s probably just that.
‘Then I was feeling a bit more feverish, no cold and flu, but muscle aches and my friends were like ”just go rest, sleep it off, take some Panadol” so I took those with some food.’
‘But by that night I was having intense shivers, sweating, high fever and my body literally felt like someone had knocked me out, like my whole body like had been in a fight.
‘We have friends that were doctors with us… I would have a Panadol or a Nurofen, which I found that later your not supposed to take with dengue.’
‘I would feel good for four hours but then literally after five hours I would crash again.’
The dance teacher from Sydney said about three weeks later she is still having trouble walking
Ms Chandran said her partner was reassuring her that she was going to be fine so she tried to tough it out.
‘I would be in bed kind of crying and shivering because it was honestly like really bad pain and he was telling me ‘you’re OK’ so I was like ‘maybe I’m overreacting’.’
‘We were there for the groom and bride and I didn’t want to ruin it for them so I was just sort of holding it in and the doctors there were giving me like things like nausea meds to handle all the other symptoms.
She said by July 17 the situation was so bad she was placed on an IV drip.
‘They give you vitamins and electrolytes. I thought, like, maybe that’ll help me and I’ll feel a lot better because it was the groom’s birthday and I wanted to do something with them.’
‘I was able to go to like a bird park with him but I was a couple of meters behind because I couldn’t walk.
‘When I got back to the Airbnb, I had really severe stomach cramps I started getting a lot of bruises on my body as well.
‘The next morning we called for a doctor because I just couldn’t get up and that was the day of my flight.
‘He took a bunch of blood and said they’d test it in the lab but then he pulled out a rapid test kit for dengue.
‘As soon as he did it, it showed up positive and he’s like ”they only ever really give false negatives, it’s very unlikely that it’ll give a false positive” but they had to confirm with the lab.’
Ms Chandara (left) said she took every precaution when going to Bali such as brushing her teeth with bottled water and eating at reputable places but still got sick
The doctor then explained to Ms Chandran that dengue has three ‘phases’ the first of which is body aches, which is why it is also called ‘break-bone fever’.
The second is where the blood platelet count drops very low which makes the blood thinner and that can cause serious complications.
This is followed by a recovery phase where body fights off the virus.
‘After a couple of hours and the bloods came back and my platelets were at 50 when they should be above 150. So the doctor recommended we go straight to the hospital.
‘I called my family and we have like family doctors as well and she said if you feel healthy and well enough then just get on the flight and go straight to emergency once you land.’
She decided to do that as she wanted to get treated in an Australian hospital.
‘Once I got on the plane I noticed there was blood in my stool, there was blood in my urine, my gums were actively bleeding.
‘Once I reached Australia I was coughing up blood as well.’
After landing about 6am she went straight to emergency at Westmead in Sydney’s west where they tested her platelets which had dropped further to 25.
‘It wasn’t until like maybe 12 hours later that I got a bed, they just didn’t have enough rooms.
She spent a week in hospital when she returned to Sydney (pictured) after going straight to the emergency room when the flight landed
‘They gave me like IV fluid while I was in the waiting room and they were checking up on me, doing blood tests and things like that.’
Doctors also gave her a platelet infusion which pushed her count back up to 30.
‘Then I was in the hospital for a week. At one point they said that I was the only active case of dengue in Australia.’
Other blood tests in hospital revealed she had two other bacteria present in her blood which doctors said was likely from contaminated food or water.
‘They told me one was typhoid. So they had to mask up when they came to see me. I like was having less visitors as well.
‘My body is still really sore. I struggle with walking but it’s a lot better.
‘I’m a dance teacher so, like, I do classes here in Sydney so when I came back, I had to cancel like two or three workshops.
Ms Chandara said she tried to ‘hold it in’ for the bride and groom despite ‘crying in bed’ feeling like she had been ‘beaten up’
‘They basically told me that I wasn’t allowed to move my body or do anything that would cause me to bruise or cause me to have any sort of internal bleeding for one to two weeks.
‘The GP only just okayed me to be able to go to America for a dance tour.’
Ms Chandran said she feels fortunate to be recovering and her advice to others travelling to Bali would be to be wary of mosquitos.
‘Make sure you’ve like got insect repellent on.’
‘Also book travel insurance. If my flight was like a day later I would have had to stay in Bali and go to the hospital there.’
ADVICE ON DENGUE FEVER
Dengue virus infection (commonly known as dengue fever, or just dengue) is caused by viruses spread by the bite of a mosquito. The mosquito species that typically transmit dengue are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
Symptoms typically include rash, fever, chills, headache, muscle and joint pain, and fatigue. People also often report abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
While infection with just one of these viruses can make you sick, subsequent exposure to other strains can have more serious health implications. In these cases, symptoms can also include the presence of blood in vomit, bleeding gums and breathing difficulties.
Dengue infection must be confirmed via a blood test, but there are no specific treatments. Most people will recover on their own however staying hydrated is crucial.
Dengue is found in about 100 countries.
One of the worst years on record was 2023, but the burden of dengue continues to grow. In the first four months of 2024, Indonesia reported three times as many cases of dengue compared to the same period in 2023.
Dengue fever is spread by mosquitos but only certain species (stock image)
Although there are more than 40 Australian mosquito species known or suspected to be transmitting local pathogens, such as Ross River virus, Australia is generally free of local dengue risk.
While there is a vaccine available, it’s not recommended for short-term travellers. There are strict eligibility criteria for its use, so speak to a health professional for advice.
For those travelling to Bali or other areas at risk of dengue, putting insect repellent on throughout the day is recommended.
Light coloured and loose fitting clothing will help stop mosquito bites (and help keep you cool). Covered shoes can help too.
By Cameron Webb Clinical Associate Professor and Principal Hospital Scientist, University of Sydney for The Conversation.
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