53-year-old woman is first dengue death in S’pore this year

SINGAPORE — Dengue claimed its first fatality here this year, with the death of a 53-year-old woman yesterday (Feb 23).

The patient, a Chinese national, was admitted to the National University Hospital (NUH) yesterday and she died on the same day as her condition deteriorated, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA) in a joint press release.

The patient stayed at West Coast Road, in an area located within an active seven-case dengue cluster, said MOH and NEA.

The NEA has been inspecting the premises in the area, and detected six counts of mosquito breeding so far. Vector control operations to kill adult mosquitoes and destroy any potential breeding habitats are ongoing.

The MOH and NEA noted that there has been a dip in weekly dengue cases over the past three weeks. “Notwithstanding, we need to remain vigilant and continue to keep dengue cases in check as a large proportion of our population is still susceptible to dengue infection due to the lack of immunity,” they said.

A total of 100 cases were reported in the week ending Feb 21, 72 cases fewer than the previous week. However this figure may not represent the true situation due to the long Chinese New Year holiday break, said the NEA on the dengue website (www.dengue.gov.sg).

For the first seven weeks of this year, a cumulative 1,465 cases were reported.