Archive of "Tourist with Aids-related illness in hospital", The Straits Times, 3 June 1988

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Tourist with Aids-related illness in hospital

By GILLIAN POW CHONG

Hotel isolates room and drains swimming pool

AN AIVntAlIAN i-HjiU • ho armed hrn» ir sun ita) b in hmptnl in Mnv i pore hn’HUM' of A MS and Ihf hotel w bet e hr stayed has wililpi! Hi«i room and drained ihe wmtmnK pool Am! loiaf the hotel will bum all dwii towel* and anything else the fuuilsf had or mav have usnl Staff who dot II wtfh the man when hr bream* til on MomUv were given t blood test and « U\it vd Thr womrn % tollr* h« used has brrn dtsinfci ted ms an additional prr« 411 tiooar) measure The 29-year old m »n who b suffering from ,»n Aid* related illness, w tv* ing treated in ihe v|ie« la ward art asiiM* for Aids jm tienis at Tan Tork Seng Hospital a Communti able DMmup Centre Rffuud to sm 1 doctor

His rood 11 k»n Ik stable and he will br sent hat k to Australia when be b fit to travel, said the Singapore Health Ministry yesterday The drama at the hotel •tarted with a pot of tea the patient ordered through room sendee The hotel manager said when a staff memher took Ihe tea to the tourist s room between 3 pm and 4 pm on Monday thr man rollapard

The hotel security men helped him to the bed Me was not bleeding but said he felt dfaEty ami rs fused to see a dor tor the manager said.

At about 7 pm thr dut> manager railed thr polwc when the guest a* ted strangely " He appeared in the lob by in an unbuttoned shin and aborts He refused to return to his room ami at one point, made a beeline for thr women s toilet he fort security staff mu id stop him.

"The staff tried to pa> 1 fy him until the police ar lived and tailed an ambu lance to take him to Slnga port Genera) Hospital "He did m»t restoi My understanding is that he bid a medical cert If l« ate from Australia whith hrlprd thr dm Mors in I heir iMgnrnb " said Ihe hotel

ut.tnager Thr imtrlftl was then •**nt to Tan Took Seng Hnpttal

1 hr hotel swung tnto at iion as soon as they were informed that thr man had *n Aids related Illness l’hr management mn ».»• ted 1 hi* hotel ikMMor for td\ice The doctor asked a surgeon for advice.

Said thr hotel manager s outer day "We were not sure If the man, who hi* ked in without a book mg on Sumlay. swam in 1 hr hotel |tool hut as a pre t auttnnary measure we drained the pool The sheets, towels and everything else that he may have used in his room will be burnt by a team from a professional com l«any tomorrow.

We are in the process of disinfecting the room he had occupied which Is still isolated "We were not sure If he had any meals, but the doctor pointed out that the Aids virus Is very brittle and with the present sys tern of washing crockery, it would automatically be killed Staff rtauurw) The same would have happened when washing the linen but we are destroying It as a precaution* ary measure “

The management also tried to reassure the staff who feared that they may have picked up the virus when they came in contact with the guest •We talked to all the staff and checked on what they did

•only three who had more contact with the man than others, when they helped him. were sent for a hioud test." said the hotel manager The Australian High Commission has removed all the man's belongings from the room, he added.

=See also=
 * Archive of "Three in S’pore found with Aids-linked virus", The Straits Times, 10 April 1985
 * Archive of "Aids virus: Doctor who 'found it'", The Sunday Times, 14 April 1985
 * Archive of "A chance to be ahead in medicine", The Singapore Monitor, 16 April 1985
 * Archive of "Aids on ‘must report’ list", The Straits Times, 17 April 1985
 * Archive of "Undergrads to be taught about Aids", The Straits Times, 21 April 1885
 * Archive of "16 more may be carriers of Aids virus", The Straits Times, 30 April 1985
 * Archive of "Aids doctor thanks mum", The Straits Times, 12 May 1985
 * Archive of "Special lab to do Aids tests soon", The Straits Times, 18 May 1985
 * Archive of "Man with Aids related virus in hospital", The Straits Times, 21 July 1985
 * Archive of "Aids carrier leaves hospital", The Straits Times, 28 July 1985
 * Archive of "Ministry steps up Aids drive", The Straits Times, 5 September 1985
 * Archive of "Singapore ‘first in the world’ to have 100 % screening of donor blood", The Straits Times, 11 September 1985
 * Archive of "S’pore-Stanford research tie-up bid", The Straits Times, 10 October 1985
 * Archive of "Aids: 20,000 cleared", The Straits Times, 29 November 1985
 * Archive of "200 turn up for first public medical convention", The Straits Times, 28 April 1986
 * Archive of "Screening tests likely to uncover more Aids carriers", The Straits Times, 1 May 1986
 * Archive of "100 people could be Aids carriers here: Expert", The Straits Times, 3 August 1986
 * Archive of "Aids claims first victim here", The Straits Times, 11 April 1987
 * Archive of "Fear of Aids pushes up condom sales", The Straits Times, 19 April 1987
 * Archive of "Govt dental clinics phasing out boiling", The Straits Times, 1 October 1987
 * Earliest cases of HIV/AIDS in Singapore
 * HIV/AIDS in Singapore's LGBT community
 * Paddy Chew
 * Avin Tan
 * Ajmal Khan
 * Calvin Tan
 * Adrian Tyler

=References=
 * Gillian Pow Chong, "Tourist with Aids-related illness in hospital", The Straits Times, 3 June 1988[].

=Acknowledgements=

This article was archived by Roy Tan.