Six cases of dengue fever have recently been reported at Eusoff Hall, National University of Singapore. Eusoff Hall was most severely affected by the recent dengue outbreak on campus amongst the halls of residence.

Despite a series of measures put in place by the Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Management Division in NUS, all six cases were reported within a span of one month in September.

The National Environment Agency sent out warnings earlier in April on the possibility of a dengue outbreak in Singapore due to seasonal weather changes. In response to this, an NUS task force was set up in May to address the issue, according to Ravindran s/o Sockalingam, manager of the Emergency Management Division of Occupational Safety, Health and Environment.

“The pest control team from Office of Estate and Development was activated, and we report to the National Environment Agency regularly to keep them updated on what we are doing,” he said.

Damaged drains in the campus were repaired and the pest control team conducted a “search and destroy” operation to get rid of potential mosquito breeding grounds. Emails, circulars and seminars were also used to educate students on dengue fever. Regular spot checks, according to Sockalingam, were put in place to keep people on alert for dengue prevention.

However, special attention was given to foreign students, who might be unaware of dengue fever. They were taught how to protect themselves from infection, according to Peck Thian Guan, director of the Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Management Division.

“Especially for students from temperate countries,” he said, “some of them have never heard of dengue fever, and we have to explain to them what an Aedes mosquito is.”

The dengue virus is transmitted to humans by infected Aedes mosquitoes. Mosquitoes become infected when they suck the blood of a dengue-infected person, and then pass on the virus when they feed on another person. The dengue virus does not spread from human to human.

Despite efforts made by the management to contain the dengue situation, Peck said not everything is “within (their) control.”

“Mosquitoes are able to breed in small puddles of water, and it will be like hunting down a 20-cent coin in a haystack if you want to eradicate them.

“We can’t do anything also if the mosquitoes were carried into our campus by the wind,” he said. 

Eusoff Hall master Tan Tin Wee said his management team has been working hard to keep residents safe, but the close proximity of living means it would take an “inordinate amount of effort to keep dengue away.”

“We have been monitoring the spread of dengue fever around the vicinity, and we observed that the clusters were moving from West Coast Green down to Varsity Park construction site, which is just an overhead bridge across from us.

“Although we managed to detour the breeding zones away from us for awhile, but once it crosses over to Neo Pee Teck Lane, we are sitting ducks,” said Tan.

Neo Pee Teck Lane is located next to Eusoff Hall along its southwestern perimeter.

Tan said the locality of Eusoff Hall made it an attractive place for mosquitoes.

“We are located on low-lying grounds, and our infrastructure is made up of black bricks,” he said. “We are situated near eateries as well, and all these factors combine to make Eusoff Hall more inviting for the mosquitoes.”

Insect repellents, insecticides and thermometers were issued to all Eusoff Hall residents to help them protect themselves against dengue fever. Ultraviolet-light insect killers and ultrasonic sound-wave devices have also been installed at strategic locations around Eusoff Hall to keep the mosquitoes away, Tan said.

“So far, no breeding ground was ever found on Eusoff Hall,” Tan said, adding that synchronized fumigating exercises were conducted between Eusoff Hall, Temasek Hall and Varsity Park construction site.

Peck said the management can do their best only within their areas of “jurisdiction,” and they can only “try to prevent it (dengue fever) from spreading.”

Tan agreed.

“The National Environment Agency must work with us in order to be able to contain the dengue situation effectively.

"The cooperation of students is also necessary, and we cannot do it on our own,” Tan said.