Papaya leaves juice as an alternative treatment for dengue fever

Dengue Fever (DF), a type of viral disease, is now almost an endemic to certain tropical and subtropical regions of the world. (Kadir et al., 2013; Senthilvel et al., 2013; Pigili et al., 2014; Abrao et al., 2015). According to Dengue Situation Update (Number 474) by World Health Organization, as on September 12, 2015, there were 85,488 dengue cases with 234 deaths reported in Malaysia for the year 2015. This is 21.5% higher compared to the same period in 2014 which is 70,337 cases. Dengue fever is transmitted by female Aedes aegypti mosquito carrying Flavivirus. The person who has been infected with dengue fever could be reinfected because the virus carries four different serotypes (Ahmad et al., 2011; Kadir et al., 2013). After being bitten, it would take three to fourteen days for early manifestation of symptoms such as fever, headache, rash, nausea, joint and musculosketel pain. If left untreated, it can cause blood plasma and vessel leakage, dropping of platelet count leading to dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) (Kadir et al., 2013; Pigili et al., 2014). Further severe development of DHF will lead to dengue shock syndrome (DSS) which is associated with high mortality rate (Kadir et al., 2013; Sarala et al., 2014). Currently the newly available dengue vaccine is still not routinely administered to the general public. Normally, oral and intravenous fluids administration and antipyretics is recommended to control blood circulation and fever (Ahmad et al., 2011; Kadir et al., 2013; Pigili et al., 2014). Traditionally, medicinal plant has been often used to treat numerous diseases including DF (Kadir et al., 2013; Sheikh et al., 2014). For centuries Carica papaya leaves obtained from papaya tree have been used in the folk medicine to combat DF, because it is considered to be an effective, safe and cheap remedy (Dharmarathna et al., 2013; Subenthiran et al., 2013). Many studies have revealed that C. papaya leaves has a lot of benefits such as anti-inflammatory agent, antitumor, antioxidant, nephroprotective, hepatoprotective, hypoglycemic, hypolipidaemic, anti-sickling properties in sickle cell disease and act as a vermifuge (Patil et al., 2013; Subenthiran et al., 2013; Sarala et