Dengue Voices

This story represents one person's experience with dengue disease. It is important to talk with your doctor if you are experiencing any symptoms that could be dengue disease.

My name is Jenny, and I live in Bogotá, Colombia, with my husband and our son Martín, who is 7 years old. In March 2023, Martín contracted dengue. It happened during his school break, when we went on an eight-day family trip. At the time, we didn’t know that there were dengue cases in the area we visited.

After returning to Bogotá, Martín went back to school the following week. That’s when the symptoms began. He started to feel generally unwell, with body aches, pain in his bones and joints, and a very high fever. We decided to take him to the emergency room, where they ran several tests and told us it was a viral infection.

We went back home, but Martín continued to feel unwell. We were told that this could be normal. The next day, I spoke with his pediatrician and explained everything, including that we had recently traveled to an area with a warm climate. After hearing the symptoms, the pediatrician told me he was almost certain it was dengue and asked us to return to the emergency room for further tests. One of those tests confirmed it was dengue.

That’s when the hardest days began. For about seven days, Martín experienced intense symptoms. His feet became swollen, his hands slightly inflamed, and small blister-like spots appeared under his skin. He spent nights in pain, with itching in his feet, joint pain, extreme fatigue, headaches, stomach pain, and nausea. The only thing that gave him some relief was staying in the shower. As a parent, it’s very hard to see your child suffering and feel like there’s nothing you can do.

Our doctor monitored Martín closely, and every day we had to check his platelet levels. At first, his platelets were stable, but one day they dropped significantly, and he had a nosebleed. That was the moment of greatest fear for us. Going back to the hospital became traumatic for Martín. He didn’t want to return, knowing that every visit meant another blood test. But it was the only way to know whether his condition was stable, improving, or getting worse.

After 14 days, Martín was finally discharged. In his case, there were no long-term effects, so we were fortunate. Looking back, I wish I had known more about dengue before. Today, we are much more careful about mosquito bites and use repellent consistently. What I didn’t know before is that dengue can happen to anyone, to any family.

If I could say something to other parents, it would be this: learn more about dengue. Educating families about the disease and the risks it carries can help people become more aware and may prevent many infections.

C-ANPROM/INT/QDE/0343 | March 2026