‘I thought I might die’: Birmingham woman recalls her battle with dengue fever
Updated: 6:05 p.m. CDT May 30, 2024
13 NEWS AT TEN STARTS NOW. A CONFIRMED CASE OF DENGUE VIRUS FOUND HERE IN JEFFERSON COUNTY. And thank you for joining us at ten. I’m Guy Rawlings, Sherry has a free evening. THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SAYS THIS VIRUS IS SPECIFICALLY BARRED BY MOSQUITOES. And we have a lot of them here, especially during the summer months. AND TONIGHT, THE WOMAN WHO SAYS SHE HAS THIS CONFIRMED CASE IN THE STATE SPOKE WITH WVTM 13 S AARON LLEWELLYN. It’s live and local outside of UAB Hospital with what she had to say. AARON. YEAH GUYS EARLIER TODAY I SPOKEN TO ERICA VAN MEER WHO SAYS SHE HAS THE FIRST CASE OF DENGUE HERE IN BIRMINGHAM. SHE ALSO SAID THAT SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS ALMOST GOING TO DIE FROM HER CASE. She says she got it back in November and it took her months to recover from her symptoms. I have never felt so sick in my life and there were times I thought I might die. ERICA VAN MEER SAYS SHE’S THANKFUL TO BE ALIVE AFTER FIGHTING A CASE OF DENGUE. IT’S LITERALLY LIKE SOMEONE COMES IN AND CRASHES YOUR BONES. VAN MEER SAYS SHE AND HER FAMILY WERE GOING ON VACATION TO MEXICO TO CELEBRATE Thanksgiving in 2023, just days before she came home. She came down with a severe case of what some doctors call bone fracture fever. I started feeling really sick the night before Thanksgiving, like weak muscles and headaches. Um, joint pain. LOTS OF SYMPTOMS THAT MADE ME THINK OF COVID. TWO DAYS LATER, VAN MEER NOTED THAT HIS SYMPTOMS WERE GETTING WORSE. THEY COULD SEE THE PAIN I HAD AND THEY DECIDED TO GIVE ME TORADOL, WHICH IS A NON-STEROID ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUG THAT SUPPLEMENTS PAIN AND IT DEFINITELY MADE ME FEEL BETTER. BUT THE RELIEF ONLY LASTED FOR A LONG TIME. A FEW HOURS LATER IS WHEN MY NOSE STARTED BLEEDING AND I STARTED GETTING MUCH WORSE AND WAS ADMISSED TO UAB. HIS CASE TURNED INTO HEMORRHAGE. DENGUE, CAUSING LOSS OF BLOOD PLATELETS. MY PLATELETS WERE DECREASED VERY QUICKLY AND HAD ALL KINDS OF OTHER SYMPTOMS. My liver enzymes have increased. I felt like plasma was leaking from my lungs. VAN MEER SAYS SHE SPENT FIVE DAYS IN HOSPITAL, BUT IT TOOK ALMOST FIVE MONTHS TO FULLY RECOVER AND A LOT OF HAIR LOSS. A FEW MONTHS LATER, I LOST ABOUT A THIRD OF MY HAIR, THAT’S JUST. I would brush my hair and have big handfuls of hair. UH, YOU KNOW, AND KIND OF LIKE LONG COVID. I had, you know, joint pain and pain. DOCTORS SAY VAN MEER IS ONE OF THE 4 OR 5 PERCENT OF PEOPLE WHOSE DENGUE CASES ARE WORSENING, BUT SHE WANTS TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE KNOW WHAT TO DO TO BE PROACTIVE. I don’t feel ready to die and I really think that if I get through this, I’m going to enjoy my life a lot more and, you know, I’ll have a lot of gratitude and I’ll be grateful. NOW, VAN MEER HOPES THAT TELLING HER STORY WILL HELP SOMEONE ELSE AVOID THE PAIN SHE FELT, AND HOPES THEY WILL AVOID THE FEELING OF CAREFULNESS she says she has. AND SHE SUGGESTS THAT ANYONE WHO TRAVELS TO THE CARIBBEAN OR LATI
‘I thought I might die’: Birmingham woman recalls her battle with dengue fever
Updated: 6:05 p.m. CDT May 30, 2024
A confirmed case of dengue virus has been discovered in Jefferson County. The World Health Organization said the virus is spread specifically by mosquitoes, and one woman told WVTM 13 she had the first case of the virus in Alabama. Doctors estimate that between 1,000 and 2,000 people contract the virus each year. Erika Van Meir is one of those people and said she thought she was going to die after catching dengue fever. She caught the virus in November when she and her family went to Mexico to celebrate Thanksgiving. “I have never felt so sick in my life,” she said, “and there were times when I thought I might die. It literally feels like someone is coming in and breaking your bones. My platelets are dropping very quickly. I ended up staying at UAB for five days and I had all kinds of other symptoms and I had all kinds of other symptoms. My liver enzymes have increased. I felt like plasma was leaking from my lungs. Van Meir said it took almost five months to fully recover. “A lot of hair loss,” she said. “A few months later, I lost about a third of my hair. I would brush my hair and I would like big handfuls of hair and kind of like long COVID I had joint pain and pain” Doctors said Van Meir was one of the four or five percent. people whose cases of dengue are getting worse, but she wants to make sure people know what to do to be proactive She hopes telling her story will stop others from being as careless as she thinks they are. traveling to Latin America and the Caribbean to use insect repellent and wear long sleeves and pants to avoid catching the virus.
A confirmed case of dengue virus has been discovered in Jefferson County. The World Health Organization said the virus is spread specifically by mosquitoes, and one woman told WVTM 13 she had the first case of the virus in Alabama. Doctors estimate that between 1,000 and 2,000 people contract the virus each year.
Erika Van Meir is one of those people and said she thought she was going to die after catching dengue fever. She caught the virus in November when she and her family traveled to Mexico to celebrate Thanksgiving.
“I have never felt so sick in my life,” she said, “and there were times when I thought I might die. It literally feels like someone is coming in and breaking your bones. My platelets are dropping very quickly. I ended up staying at UAB for five days and I had all kinds of other symptoms and I had all kinds of other symptoms. My liver enzymes have increased. I felt like plasma was leaking from my lungs.
Van Meir said it took him nearly five months to fully recover.
“A lot of hair loss,” she said. “A few months later, I lost about a third of my hair. I would brush my hair and I would like big handfuls of hair and kind of like long COVID. I had joint pain and aches.
Doctors said Van Meir is among the four or five percent of people whose cases of dengue are getting worse, but she wants to make sure people know what to do to be proactive. She hopes telling her story will stop others from being as careless as she thinks they are. She encourages anyone traveling to Latin America and the Caribbean to use insect repellent and wear long sleeves and pants to avoid catching the virus.