First dengue death: He waited 5 hours at TTSH's emergency department, says mum

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http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/st...s_at_ttsh.html

Singapore saw its first dengue death on Wednesday morning: Mr Ang Yong Han, 20, had waited for five hours at Tan Tock Seng Hospital's emergency department before finally being admitted the next day prior to his death, said his mother.

Mr Ang Yong Han fell ill on May 22 with a fever. It later worsened to high fever, making him feel weak and uncomfortable, his aunt Madam Yeh, 56, told Shin Min.

He went to TTSH's emergency department last Thursday and was diagnosed with viral fever. He was given a drip and sent home, reported The Straits Times.

However his condition did not improve, hitting as high as 39.5 degrees Celsius, so he went back again in the wee hours of Friday.

According to The Straits Times, his mother, Madam Yap Geok Kuan, 45, said after waiting for five hours, he left to go to a general practitioner near his home.

On Saturday night, Mr Ang was eventually admitted to TTSH and by Monday he was transferred to the hospital's intensive care unit, where he died three days later of dengue shock syndrome.

Madam Yap's only child was due to enlist in National Service a day after his death.

Mr Ang had received blood transfusions in the hospital and also had a breathing tube inserted into his chest.

His father, 56, told Shin Min he was heartbroken: "He is very filial and often helps me with delivering vegetables. I did not think his fever would be so serious, and he would end up dead."

More than 30 people turned up at the ITE graduate's wake on Friday morning in Hougang. These included his friends from school and his pool buddies.

The budding pool player's mother was inconsolable, and both parents did not want to participate in their son's cremation as "the white-haired ones shouldn't send the black-haired ones off," said his father.

Mr Ang had recently been picked for the national youth squad, after placing in the top eight in a national ranking tournament.

This year alone, more than 8,000 people have come down with dengue fever. Since Sunday, 458 have fallen ill.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) is conducting thorough vector control operations around Hougang Avenue 1, after a man living there died from dengue fever.

Mr Ang Yong Hong, 20, lived at block 103 in Hougang Avenue 1, one of the dengue clusters in the current dengue epidemic. NEA inspectors will be sent to the area to conduct the vector control operations.


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