Nina Corpuz Shares Daughter's Dengue Experience: She 'Was Lying On The Floor, Motionless'

Former reporter Niña Corpuz detailed her daughter's bout with dengue to remind parents not to forget the threat brought by the mosquito-borne viral disease amid the pandemic.

In her Instagram post on Wednesday, October 13, 2021, Niña recounted the panic they felt when her husband, Vince Rodriguez, found their daughter Stella "lying face down on the floor, motionless, and was very warm."

Niña said that their initial reaction was to treat the health scare as COVID-19 and immediately isolated Stella. She also had every household member tested for coronavirus which later on turned out negative. 

Aside from the RT-PCR test, Niña made sure that her daughter underwent dengue, CBC (complete blood count), and urinalysis tests.

Stella's health did not improve immediately. After days of experiencing "on and off fever, headache, stomach ache," they started to observe rashes and spots on Stella's skin. It was then that they found out that Stella is positive for dengue.

This was now the second time Stella got dengue. (Read symptoms of dengue in children here.)

"Stella had dengue when she was 1. You can have dengue up to 4 times," she said. (Read dengue symptoms in babies here)

Fortunately, Stella did not need hospital confinement and is now healthy and in good condition. Niña also shared a piece of advice from a doctor about the threat of dengue on kids.

"A doctor warned me that dengue could be more dangerous to a child compared to covid. Covid is mostly mild in children but with dengue, your child might have a higher chance of ending up in the hospital," she said.

Niña said that she has always been vigilant against mosquitos. "When I see a lamok I turn into a lioness! I’m so mad!!," Nina exclaimed.

But apart from putting up mosquito repellants, Niña says that a vaccine would be a big help for parents like her. "I wish we can get dengue vaccine in the Philippines!" Niña said.

For Niña, the government and the health department should rethink the dengue vaccine ban to "give moms like me a choice." Currently, there are no available vaccine against dengue in the country following the Dengvaxia controversy.

Read tips on how to keep mosquitos away from your kids here.