Can pregnant women pass the dengue virus to their unborn children?
Yes, it is possible, said Associate Professor Leo Yee Sin, the clinical director of the Communicable Disease Centre – though no case has been reported in Singapore so far. A mother’s placenta does not filter the dengue virus from crossing over to the foetus. The survival of the foetus depends on the clinical condition of its mother. Although the foetus does not die from the virus itself, it can be harmed if its mother develops a more severe case of dengue, or goes into dengue shock syndrome. Dr Jenny Low, associate consultant at the department of internal medicine at the Singapore General Hospital, said there is no known treatment so far. Can you get dengue from any other vector such as rats? No. Can dengue be passed through blood transfusion? Technically, it is possible for dengue to be transmitted through blood transfusions, said Prof Leo, though again there is no known case of such a thing happening in Singapore. But in October 2003, two patients died of multi-organ failure when the
