Woman Confirmed to Have Both Dengue & COVID-19; MOH Said She’s Not Misdiagnosed

Because I’ve a lot of faith in our healthcare system, it’s never come across to me that there could be a case of misdiagnosis.

But if you’re one who trusts only yourself, then you might still be thinking about a COVID-19 case that was confirmed yesterday.

A woman, who was warded in Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH), was initially diagnosed as a dengue patient and therefore stayed in a general ward (with no mosquitoes, of course).

But yesterday, it was announced that she had been tested positive for COVID-19.

So what’s this? A mosquito carries two viruses?

No. It’s just a matter of luck.

And let’s just say that this 57-year-old woman has one of the worst luck since 2020.

Woman Confirmed to Have Both Dengue & COVID-19; MOH Said She’s Not Misdiagnosed

Yesterday, MOH announced three new COVID-19 cases. Case 82 is a 57-year-old Singapore, and her source of infection is still unknown.

However, people took notice of her because she had her first symptoms on 9 February 2020, and went to Jurong Polyclinic to seek treatment on 10 and 14 February 2020, and also a GP clinic on 12 February 2020.

In fact, she even went to the emergency department at NTFGH on 13 February, which means she’s been seeing a doctor every day since 10 February 2020.

Finally, she was admitted to NTFGH as a dengue patient on 15 February 2020…in a general ward, because why not.

Apparently, what happened was that initially, her symptoms were consistent with dengue: she had fever and rash. In addition, there were laboratory results that showed that she was infected with dengue.

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In addition, according to NEA, the area she stayed in, Jurong West St 41, is also a dengue cluster.

However, she then started to develop respiratory symptoms like cough, runny nose and sore throat.

That was when she was tested for COVID-19 despite not having any close contact with any confirmed cases or recent travel history to China, and on Tuesday afternoon (18 February 2020), she was tested positive for COVID-19.

In other words, she was not misdiagnosed: she has both the dengue virus and COVID-19 virus running in her body.

She’s now isolated in NTFGH at Jurong.

The patients who had shared the same room as her while she was in the general ward have been transferred to single rooms. They have been tested for COVID-19 infection, and the room has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

This only goes to show one thing: those Harvard researchers and WHO were right.

Singapore’s detection method is indeed gold standard, all thanks to all medical professionals and the folks at NCID.