April 22, 2014

Sister Ward,

Your son is amazing!   I told him if he did what I told him to do … he would get over Dengue in 7 days and not 10 to 14 days.  He has been so good about listening and doing.  I am so impressed with him!   He is over the worst and will probably start back to missionary work by Wed. or Thurs.   The cure for  Dengue Fever …  is rest, lots of water and Tylenol.  They do completely recover.  It is not like "West Niles Disease".  Last season we had 22 missionaries get Dengue (out of 230 missionaries).  It is carried by mosquitos.  We encourage the missionaries to spray with "off" (deet) every day.  Your son has a light case.  The disease effects the platelets in the blood.  The platelets drop…. if they drop too far … it causes bleeding.   the normal platelet count it (150-450).  If they drop below 60 then they put the missionary in the hospital.  Elder Ward's platelets went to 100 and they are now going up.  Today they were up to 140!  He is feeling a lot better!  We will do another blood draw on Wed. to see if he is back to normal.   I will email you and let you know.  Feel free to remind me of my promise … with 250 missionaries it can get crazy.   

I know that Heavenly Father truly watches over His missionaries.  Your prayers will and are helping.  I see miracles everyday.  He is going to be just fine!

Sincerely,

Hna S
(she is the mission nurse)