Man, 63, fourth person to die from dengue in Singapore this year
SINGAPORE — A 63-year-old man has become the fourth person to die from dengue this year, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA) in a joint statement on Friday (31 May).
The man, who resided in Hougang Avenue 1, died on Wednesday. The area is not an active dengue cluster.
"Nonetheless, vector control operations to kill adult mosquitoes and destroy any potential breeding habitats are ongoing," said the authorities.
The three earlier victims were all in their 70s. A 71-year-old woman residing at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 died from dengue in March. A month earlier, a 77-year-old man, who stayed at Hougang Avenue 3, and a 74-year-old man, who stayed in Bedok Reservoir Road, died from the mosquito-borne infection.
The death comes as figures from the NEA earlier this month showed that the number of dengue cases thus far this year had surpassed the total number of cases in previous years.
As of 3pm on Thursday, 4,182 people have contracted dengue this year, more than the 3,285 cases reported in 2018 and 2,772 cases in 2017.
According to the NEA’s website, the number of weekly reported dengue cases have have more than tripled in the past nine weeks.
As of Monday, there are 72 active dengue clusters, with the five largest clusters located at:
• Woodlands Avenue 6 / Woodlands Circle / Woodlands Crescent / Woodlands Drive 60 / Woodlands Drive 72
• Woodlands Drive 62 / Woodlands Drive 73 / Woodlands Drive 75 / Woodlands Ring Road
• Chai Chee Avenue / Chai Chee Drive / Chai Chee Lane / Chai Chee Road / Chai Chee Street
• Geylang Road / Guillemard Road / Lor 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 Geylang / Sims Avenue / Westerhout Road
• Bedok Reservoir Road / Foo Kim Lin Road / Jln Eunos / Jln Punai / Jln Rimau / Jln Singa / Teo Kim Eng Road
The NEA encouraged all residents and stakeholders to play their part to help stem dengue transmission, by doing the five-step “Mozzie Wipeout” as follows:
Turn the pail
Tip the vase
Flip the flowerpot plate
Loosen the hardened soil
Clear the roof gutter and place insecticide inside
Symptoms of dengue
Those infected with dengue should protect themselves from mosquito bites by applying repellent regularly. The symptoms of dengue include:
Sudden onset of fever for two to seven days
Severe headache with retro-orbital (behind the eye) pain
Joint and muscle pain
Skin rashes
Nausea and vomiting
Bleeding from the nose or gums
Easy bruising in the skin
The latest dengue updates can be found on the NEA website, Stop Dengue Now Facebook page or myENV app.
More Singapore stories:
Woman targets Singaporeans who 'chope' at eating places by placing message cards
Social worker stole more than $47,000 from two elderly patients under her charge
More than 100 e-commerce scams reported from Jan-Apr: police
