Recently, my daughter went through 4 days of 40+ fever. Dengue tests were negative, CBC and urine tests were very much normal. Our pedia advised us to keep the fever down with ibuprofen and sponge baths and wait it out, expecting other symptoms to manifest after the 3rd day of fever.
As we'd visited our family in the province a day before the fever started, our family and friends had other suggestions, all centering around the idea that our baby may have been a victim of "usog" or "bati" (i.e., curse, often attributed to dwarves or possibly by an unsuspecting relative who was overly fond of the child).
Along with the speculations came preventive measures that I'd thought I'd share with believers and "better safe than sorry" parents:
(1) Pin a blessed (religious) medallion on the baby's clothes
(2) Rub luya on baby's stomach and soles of her feet, then pin the luya to her clothes
(3) Have relatives apply a bit of their saliva on the baby (usually by licking their thumbs and doing the sign of the cross)
(4) Boil the clothes the baby was wearing on the day of the trip. Some suggested having the baby take in 2 tablespoons of the resulting broth. This will only work if the clothes haven't gone through the laundry yet.
(5) Undergo cleansing via "tawas" (can only be done by professionals!)
Have you also considered that the baby may have pilay that can be remedied with a good massage (also only to be done by professionals)?
Do take these with a grain of salt! ;) I myself refused to give my baby the broth of her boiled clothes.
Incidentally, our pedia's initial diagnosis did follow through. Rashes broke out on the 4th day, afterwhich the fever subsided. She likely picked up a case of roseola infantum as she turned 2 years old.
Still, I thought this would be a good start to my series of blogs on supersitions and folklore. ;)
Happy Halloween, All!
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