Delhi Blues

Last weekend my son took part in a set of Boy Scout activities with his local Delhi scout troop. On the grounds of the former residence of the U.S. ambassador, the boys prepared a kabob lunch, practiced fire making, and even built a Medieval-style trebuchet. But all I could think about were the little striped mosquitoes that seemed to follow the kids everywhere - Asian Tiger mosquitoes, to be exact, the kind that carry dengue fever. In New Delhi, dengue (DEN-gay) has reached epidemic proportions. The scouts, I'm happy to say, completed their tour without infection, thanks to lots of lotion, spray, and smoky coils. But not everyone has been so lucky. I know at least five people who have been confined to bed for two weeks of fever, headaches, and joint pain. (My medical traveler's guide says it feels as if "knitting needles have been driven into every joint of [your] body.") The New York Times reported last week that Delhi hospitals "are overrun and feverish patients are sharing beds and languishing in hallways." The illness, which in extreme forms can require blood transfusions and even kill, is breaking out all over the country. Official reports say that this year 30,002 people in Indian have fallen ill with dengue through October. But experts believe the real number is around 37 million.