The Dengue virus is spread by the female Aedes mosquito. It is common along the Coastal region of Kenya, where outbreaks occur periodically. The last one was reported in the first half of 2021.
75 per cent of those infected get asymptomatic disease. Mild symptoms include fever, headache, joint pains and nausea, easily mistaken for malaria.
Tevin* sat on the bench outside the morgue. His legs felt weak and he struggled to hold down the guttural cry welling up inside him. His eyes misted over in pain. He had landed that morning and made his way from the airport to the mortuary. He couldn’t believe that his only sibling, his little sister, was no more. He was a broken man.
Catie* was 12 years younger than Tevin, barely a teenager when they lost their parents in a grisly road accident. Tevin became Catie’s parent. It therefore took a lot of convincing for Tevin to take up a lucrative opportunity to further his studies in Australia. He never left Catie alone, despite the fact that she was almost done with university. Tevin buried his face in his hands allowing the guilt to wash over him for the umpteenth time. He was right, she wasn’t safe without him!
