 Print Article
|
The new tally is 20, based on the latest figures compiled by the Registry of Births and Deaths, the Health Ministry told The Straits Times yesterday.
This is nearly three times the number who lost their lives to the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito in 2006, when seven died, and not much lower than in 2005, when 25 were killed in the worst dengue outbreak here to date.
Despite the higher death toll, the ministry pointed out that the proportion of deaths to the total number of reported cases of 8,826 last year is similar to that in 2006 - 0.2 per cent.
The under-reporting of deaths does, however, highlight a loophole in the reporting system, which the ministry is acting to fix immediately.
Right now, under the Infectious Diseases Act, doctors have to notify the Ministry when they discover a patient has dengue.
This is mainly so other agencies, like the National Environment Agency (NEA), can act quickly to contain the spread of the disease by checking for possible breeding sites of the dengue-spreading mosquito, for example.
However, it is currently not compulsory for doctors or hospitals to tell MOH if dengue is detected or confirmed after a patient has died.
That information, recorded in the Death Certificate, will subsequently be captured by the Registry of Births and Deaths.
That oversight will soon be fixed, its spokesman added.
The Infectious Diseases Regulations will be revised to make reporting deaths from infectious diseases, including dengue, notifiable to ensure 'more complete and timely information' on dengue deaths, said the spokesman.
The 20 people who died of dengue last year were between 25 and 93 years old, and they likely contracted the most severe forms of the disease - dengue haemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. Of the 20, 17 were Singaporeans.
The last victim for the year appears to be Madam Ng Toh Cheng, an 83-year-old who lived in Lorong Pisang Emas, near Upper Bukit Timah Road, where dengue is still being actively transmitted. She died on Dec 29 of dengue haemorrhagic fever.
Her neighbourhood is one of 15 areas in Singapore where dengue is still being actively transmitted, despite the cooler, wetter weather. Dengue tends to hit harder during the warmer months, from April to September.
Just eight days into the year, 160 people are already down with the disease, prompting the NEA to reiterate its call for vigilance.
'Dengue transmission can still occur at any time in the year...We urge everyone to play their part...to prevent mosquito breeding,' said its spokesman.
