Friday 13 June 2014

A new tropical experience

Since arriving in Guyana, we have had many new experiences.  The list is so long that I couldn't possibly list them all here.  New foods, new events, new celebrations, new customs, new words.

And now we have both shared in a new Guyanese experience which is also new to many others in Guyana -- Chikungunya -- the latest tropical disease.  Similar to Dengue Fever, but not quite so deadly, it is nonetheless debilitating.  Muscles aching all over to the point that walking becomes difficult. The name ‘chikungunya’ derives from a word in the Kimakonde language, meaning "to become contorted" and describes the stooped appearance of sufferers with joint pain.  Like Dengue, it is mosquito-borne, and we have plenty of those.

I showed symptoms a week ago on Friday; Vivian started on Sunday evening.  Fortunately, I had recovered sufficiently to aid her in her distress, as she had in mine.  There is no cure or vaccination - painkillers and hydration and lots of rest.  The rest is easy, cause you don't feel like doing anything anyway.  We are both almost back to our regular selves.

Though Chikungunya is new to the Caribbean, it is not new in other parts of the world - Africa, especially, where the name derives.

The good news is that this is the rainy season, which one might think would help breed mosquitoes, but it also drowns them and tends to keep them out of the air.  

Sunday marks the end of our first year here, so this is where we came in: rain and floods.  And the added attraction of Chikungunya.  

Always something new.