11-year-old male succumbs to dengue fever at KKH, eighth death this year

An 11-year-old male dengue patient had earlier passed away due to dengue infection at the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) on 30 August this year.

According to a joint release by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the National Environment Agency (NEA), the boy was admitted to KKH on 30 August 2016 and passed away on the same day. His death was looked through by the State Coroner and the cause of death was declared and informed to MOH on 11 October 2016.

The patient’s residence at Woodleigh Close was declared an active 2-case dengue cluster on 6 September. However, as NEA detected no breeding there and had closed the cluster since 14 September.

NEA states that it will continue with routine surveillance to check for and destroy any potential breeding habitats.

MOH and NEA jointly expressed their deepest condolences to the family of the patient.

This is the eighth reported death due to dengue infection this year.

Below is the list of the previous patients who succumb to dengue fever this year:

1. 22 January – 47-year-old male (admitted to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, lived at Marsiling Rise).
2. 10 February – 67-year-old male (admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, lived at Toa Payoh Lorong 4).
3. 10 March – 63-year-old female (admitted to Changi General Hospital, lived at Bedok North Street 3).
4. 24 March –  73-year-old female (admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, lived at Poh Huat Road West).
5. 29 May – 79-year-old male (admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, lived at Jalan Tenaga).
6. 25 June – 72-year-old female (admitted to Changi General Hospital, lived at Simei Street 1).
7. 4 August – 79-year-old male (admitted to Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, lived at Eastwood Drive).

MOH had earlier warned that the number of cases this year might reach more than 30,000 cases, almost double the number of 11,286 cases reported in 2015. This means that this year will be marked as the highest cases report in history, exceeding 22,170 cases reported in 2013, based on the speed of infections in the start of the year.

Currently, there are 28 active dengue clusters across the island, with six areas classified as high risk. A cluster in Yishun Avenue 4 and Yishun Street 61 has the highest risk with 56 cases reported, seven of which were diagnosed in the past fortnight.

MOH and NEA remind members of the public to remain vigilant and continue to work as a community to suppress the Aedes mosquito population and keep dengue cases in check. The preventive measures will also help to prevent Zika and other vector-borne diseases from taking root in Singapore as the same mosquito vector which transmits dengue also transmits Zika, yellow fever and chikungunya.

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