A 20-year-old man died on Wednesday from dengue fever, becoming the first person in Singapore to die from the disease during this current epidemic.

Mr Ang Yong Han, who recently graduated from the Institute of Technical Education, fell ill on May 22.

What started out as a fever later worsened to high fever, and he also felt weak and uncomfortable, said his aunt Madam Yeh, 56, housewife who spoke to Chinese evening papers, Shin Min.

He went to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital's (TTSH) emergency department last Thursday and was diagnosed with viral fever. After being given a drip, he was sent home. When his condition did not improve, he went back to the hospital's emergency department again in the wee hours of Friday. But after waiting for five hours, he left to go to a general practitioner near his home, said his mother Madam Yap Geok Kuan, 45.

He was eventually admitted to TTSH on Saturday night. By Monday he was transferred to the hospital's intensive care unit, where he died three days later. Mr Ang, an only child, was to have enlisted in National Service on Thursday.

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

His father, Mr Ang, 56, a vegetable wholesaler, said in Mandarin to Shin Min: "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. I am heartbroken."