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Flu Watch
Boyfriend insists on H1N1 test
One person in girlfriend's karaoke group infected, but doctors at first test only two out of six friends
By Ng Wan Ching
July 12, 2009
A NIGHT out on Saturday for a group of 10 friends ended with at least four of them being tested positive for Influenza A(H1N1).
More of them may have been infected, but they'll probably never know now, as doctors had sent at least two of them home without swabbing them for the H1N1 test.
Out of the group of 10, at least six went to get themselves tested, but two were sent home without being tested.
And this has upset Mr Samuel Lee, 26. He was not part of the original group, but his girlfriend was. And she has been tested positive for H1N1.
'If not for my insistence, my girlfriend would not have been tested at all and we would never have known,' he said in an interview with The New Paper.
He had also insisted that he be tested, and he was found to be not infected.
Tan Tock Seng Hospital spokesman confirmed that both Miss Zhu and Mr Lee were tested on Tuesday and that Miss Zhu tested positive.
A Ministry of Health (MOH) spokesman, however, said that hospitals will now use their clinical discretion to selectively test patients for H1N1.
Mr Lee's case began on Saturday, 4 Jul, when his girlfriend, Miss Tesh Zhu, 22, went out with her friends.
They had dinner and then a karaoke session.
High fever
The next day, 5 Jul, a member of the group was supposed to report for work but found that he had a high fever.
He went to the doctor and was tested for H1N1. On Monday, 6 Jul, he found out he was positive.
Said Mr Lee: 'My girlfriend and I had been out to a movie on Monday night, then we went for supper where we shared a drink. It was after supper that we got the news.'
He and his girlfriend picked up three of her other girlfriends and drove them to CDC 2. Another male friend also joined them there.
'It was around midnight. But I thought we'd better be safe and get ourselves checked. The group of them were together a long time and they were sharing the microphone during karaoke,' he said.
At CDC 2, he said that the doctor swabbed only two of Miss Zhu's girlfriends. He, Miss Zhu and another girlfriend were sent home.
'They said they swabbed those two women because they were in a high risk group as they work as nurses,' said Mr Lee.
One of them is a nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the other a nurse at Gleneagles Hospital.
Miss Zhu works in a government statutory board while Mr Lee is currently unemployed.
But the next day, on Tuesday, 7 Jul, one of the nurses sent them a message saying she and the other nurse had both tested positive for H1N1.
Said Mr Lee: 'It was sometime in the morning. I immediately got in a taxi, picked up my girlfriend and went back to CDC 2 where I insisted that we be tested.'
They got there at about 10am, and were swabbed about an hour later. Both did not display any symptoms at the time.
Later that day, he found out that he was negative and his girlfriend positive.
Mr Lee added that on Wednesday morning, Cisco staff went to his girlfriend's home to drop off Tamiflu.
'The rest of her group who went to be tested on Monday and Tuesday were just sent home with regular medicine, seven days MC.'
They had minor flu symptoms.
Mr Lee and his girlfriend also alerted her employer, the restaurant the group had eaten at, the karaoke club and the restaurant where he had dinner with his girlfriend.
Said Mr Lee: 'Her employer was very pro-active. They gave her whole department a one-day home quarantine and their flu team disinfected the work premises.
'If we didn't know she was positive, all that would not have been done.'
A MOH spokesman said that hospitals have ramped up resources to focus on at-risk patients to provide them with the best chance of recovery.
Patients with mild symptoms will go home to recuperate with medical certificates (MC) and advisories on how they can take care of themselves and their families.
The spokesman also said that most cases with mild disease may not require Tamiflu.
'The doctor will decide whether the patient needs Tamiflu, on a case by case basis based on his clinical assessment,' she said.
Flu Watch
Boyfriend insists on H1N1 test
One person in girlfriend's karaoke group infected, but doctors at first test only two out of six friends
By Ng Wan Ching
July 12, 2009
A NIGHT out on Saturday for a group of 10 friends ended with at least four of them being tested positive for Influenza A(H1N1).
More of them may have been infected, but they'll probably never know now, as doctors had sent at least two of them home without swabbing them for the H1N1 test.
Out of the group of 10, at least six went to get themselves tested, but two were sent home without being tested.
And this has upset Mr Samuel Lee, 26. He was not part of the original group, but his girlfriend was. And she has been tested positive for H1N1.
'If not for my insistence, my girlfriend would not have been tested at all and we would never have known,' he said in an interview with The New Paper.
He had also insisted that he be tested, and he was found to be not infected.
Tan Tock Seng Hospital spokesman confirmed that both Miss Zhu and Mr Lee were tested on Tuesday and that Miss Zhu tested positive.
A Ministry of Health (MOH) spokesman, however, said that hospitals will now use their clinical discretion to selectively test patients for H1N1.
Mr Lee's case began on Saturday, 4 Jul, when his girlfriend, Miss Tesh Zhu, 22, went out with her friends.
They had dinner and then a karaoke session.
High fever
The next day, 5 Jul, a member of the group was supposed to report for work but found that he had a high fever.
He went to the doctor and was tested for H1N1. On Monday, 6 Jul, he found out he was positive.
Said Mr Lee: 'My girlfriend and I had been out to a movie on Monday night, then we went for supper where we shared a drink. It was after supper that we got the news.'
He and his girlfriend picked up three of her other girlfriends and drove them to CDC 2. Another male friend also joined them there.
'It was around midnight. But I thought we'd better be safe and get ourselves checked. The group of them were together a long time and they were sharing the microphone during karaoke,' he said.
At CDC 2, he said that the doctor swabbed only two of Miss Zhu's girlfriends. He, Miss Zhu and another girlfriend were sent home.
'They said they swabbed those two women because they were in a high risk group as they work as nurses,' said Mr Lee.
One of them is a nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the other a nurse at Gleneagles Hospital.
Miss Zhu works in a government statutory board while Mr Lee is currently unemployed.
But the next day, on Tuesday, 7 Jul, one of the nurses sent them a message saying she and the other nurse had both tested positive for H1N1.
Said Mr Lee: 'It was sometime in the morning. I immediately got in a taxi, picked up my girlfriend and went back to CDC 2 where I insisted that we be tested.'
They got there at about 10am, and were swabbed about an hour later. Both did not display any symptoms at the time.
Later that day, he found out that he was negative and his girlfriend positive.
Mr Lee added that on Wednesday morning, Cisco staff went to his girlfriend's home to drop off Tamiflu.
'The rest of her group who went to be tested on Monday and Tuesday were just sent home with regular medicine, seven days MC.'
They had minor flu symptoms.
Mr Lee and his girlfriend also alerted her employer, the restaurant the group had eaten at, the karaoke club and the restaurant where he had dinner with his girlfriend.
Said Mr Lee: 'Her employer was very pro-active. They gave her whole department a one-day home quarantine and their flu team disinfected the work premises.
'If we didn't know she was positive, all that would not have been done.'
A MOH spokesman said that hospitals have ramped up resources to focus on at-risk patients to provide them with the best chance of recovery.
Patients with mild symptoms will go home to recuperate with medical certificates (MC) and advisories on how they can take care of themselves and their families.
The spokesman also said that most cases with mild disease may not require Tamiflu.
'The doctor will decide whether the patient needs Tamiflu, on a case by case basis based on his clinical assessment,' she said.
