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Dec 30, 2008
Workers with chicken pox ok
They were diagnosed only after another worker fell sick and died
By Melissa Sim & Lee Hui Chieh
TEN foreign workers who were hospitalised with chicken pox on Sunday are on the mend, the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC) said yesterday.

They have been given medication to ease their fever and to relieve the itch from their rashes.

Some of them may be discharged from the CDC soon, said its clinical director, Associate Professor Leo Yee Sin.

The workers, all Bangladeshi men aged between 20 and 35, were living in two dormitories in Tagore Industrial Avenue.

They were admitted after another worker, Mr Mohd Kamaluddin, 28, was found dead in one of the dorms on Sunday. Mr Kamaluddin's dormitory mates said he had been sick with chicken pox for about six days. Police are investigating the cause of death.

Chicken pox can become deadly if it infects many organs in the body, especially the lung, liver and nervous system, and causes them to fail, said Prof Leo.

With their immune systems weakened by chicken pox, patients could contract another infection and die from the combined effects.

At Mr Kamaluddin's living quarters in 468 Tagore Industrial Avenue yesterday, some of his friends recounted the events of Sunday morning. They told The Straits Times that a lorry was waiting to take Mr Kamaluddin to a clinic, but no one wanted to disturb him as he was sleeping.

They said they realised he was dead only after paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) examined him and pronounced him dead at 1.38pm. The SCDF said they had received a call from a member of the public about Mr Kamaluddin.

The paramedics also checked other workers who were feeling unwell, and ended up taking 10 of them to the CDC.

Workers interviewed by The Straits Times said they worked for Gates Offshore, a ship repair and dormitory services company. They said Mr Kamaluddin was also a company employee.

According to them, their main recourse when they fall ill is to call their employer and hope to be attended to. They said that their quarters had neither a sick bay nor a supervisor to check on their health. Company director Paul Lee could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Earlier media reports said he denied the workers' allegations, and that they are checked every morning to see if they were unwell.

Another employer who has 18 workers in the same make-shift dorm at Tagore Industrial Avenue said he is moving them out soon, as he has been informed by the Manpower Ministry that the quarters are not approved.

simlinoi@sph.com.sg

huichieh@sph.com.sg

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