Dengue fever destroys family's hope

Dengue fever destroys family's hope

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Tiharoh, 29, felt like the whole world had fallen down around her
when she witnessed the death of her five-year-old daughter,
Maulidina Putri, due to dengue fever on Thursday.

"I don't know how I will be able to face the loss. I'll never
forget her sweet face at the time death took her. I love her so
much, but maybe God loves her more," she said on Friday while
trying to calm herself.

"We named her after the month when Prophet Muhammad was born
as we hoped she would be as wise as him. She was very smart and
talkative. She wanted to be an engineer and I believe she could
have made her dream come true," she added, trying to hold back
tears.

Mauli, the little girl's nickname, had complained of muscle
pain last Friday. Realizing that her daughter's temperature was
very high, Tiharoh asked her husband, Darmanto, 34, to take the
girl to a nearby clinic for treatment.

"The doctor gave us medicine to ease her temperature but it
did not stabilize. By Sunday and Monday, she could play, although
her temperature was still high at times," the mother recalled.

Last Tuesday, Mauli's condition worsened, forcing her parents
to take her to the nearby community health center. The doctor
there took a blood test. However, the diagnosis was encouraging
as the test showed her thrombocyte (blood platelet) per
milliliter was around 200,000, whereas in dengue cases it would
usually be below 100,000.

"The news was a relief because we thought she didn't have
dengue fever. The doctor gave us medicine that had to be taken
every six hours," said Darmanto, an unemployed driver who is
looking for a job.

Late that night, Mauli's temperature dropped and Tiharoh was
shocked to find that the girl's body was as cold as ice.

"She coughed up blood. We were in a panic and took her to
Budhi Asih Hospital right away. The doctor said that her
condition was already acute. It was hard for the nurse to give
her an infusion," Tiharoh said.

"I still remembered how she screamed in pain when the nurse
injected the needle. Not long after that she died and there was
nothing I could do."

The couple have two other children, a seven-year-old daughter
and a three-month-old baby son. However, Mauli, the second child,
used to be the life of the street where the family lives. The
neighbors and street vendors missed the sound of her voice.

"When she was around, people would forget their sadness
because she would talk to them about everything. She simply can't
stop talking," said Tiharoh.

She said she and her husband really believed that Mauli could
have been somebody as she not only had natural charm but was also
very smart. She even used to teach her older sister how to read,
Tiharoh said.

"I don't know what went wrong. I don't think I can blame the
doctor, the hospital or the government. It is our family's fate.
We just have to let her go."