Dengue remains a serious threat, Malaysian family's harrowing experience shows

Dengue is far from a mild, seasonal illness, as highlighted by the harrowing experiences of a Malaysian family. Syelina, a 45-year-old event planner, recounted how dengue twice struck her family, affecting three generations and drastically altering their perception of the disease.

The first incident occurred in 2014, just before Eid al-Fitr. Syelina, initially dismissing her fever as common, was hospitalized and diagnosed with dengue. Simultaneously, her elderly mother, who was in a different state, also fell ill. Before she could visit Syelina, her mother collapsed and was rushed to the hospital with severe, life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever.

"I was in the hospital, and my mother was in the ICU, but in a different state. What was most heartbreaking was that I couldn't visit her. I celebrated Eid in a hospital bed. So did my mother," Syelina recalled. Her mother, in critical condition, required blood transfusions and remained unconscious for three weeks before recovering. Syelina, discharged early from her own hospital stay, rushed to be by her mother's side.

More than a decade later, in 2025, dengue resurfaced in the family. Syelina fell ill first, followed by her eight-year-old daughter. The daughter's condition rapidly deteriorated, with a dangerously low platelet count and severe dengue with plasma leakage, requiring admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Syelina's fear intensified, haunted by the memory of her mother's ordeal and the possibility of history repeating itself with her child.