Monday, April 6, 2009

A WOMAN is in a coma and at least 28 others have been hospitalised after being hit by severe food poisoning.

More than 100 people sought hospital treatment after eating at a famous Indian rojak stall at Geylang Serai market on Friday.

The stall, which is known simply as Rojak Geylang Serai, had previously been featured on Makansutra.

Madam Aminah Samijo, 57, a canteen assistant and mother of three, fell unconscious at home on Friday night and remains in a coma in the intensive care unit at Changi General Hospital (CGH).

Her husband, Mr Omar Ali, who is in his 50s, is in a regular ward in the same hospital.

Her sister, who declined to be named, said the couple had gone to eat at Geylang Serai at about 4pm on Friday. At 8pm, when they were back in their Simei home, they were hit by stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Said the sister: 'When I reached their house at about 9pm, my sister was very weak and complaining, 'Pain, pain'.

'My brother-in-law collapsed in the kitchen, vomiting and having diarrhoea.

'I was really worried, but I couldn't do anything.'

Then after 11pm, Madam Aminah fainted in the toilet. By this time, her 24-year-old son, Sahrill, had reached home. He called his siblings and an ambulance and Madam Aminah was taken to CGH. Her daughter, Ms Siti Omar, 26, rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard the news.

She said tearfully: 'I saw them in the A&E. My father was all right, but my mother was unconscious. I was very shocked, I kept asking her to wake up.'

When The New Paper on Sunday visited Madam Aminah at the hospital yesterday, more than 10 family members were by her side or in the waiting room, keeping vigil.

Her other sister said: 'We have been here all day. We have no idea when she will wake up.'

She said Madam Aminah is also suffering from kidney failure and low blood pressure, and developed a fever yesterday.

Said Ms Siti: 'Before this, we didn't know food poisoning can be so serious.'

In a separate case, Mr Abdul Latif, 44, a lorry driver, and his four children, aged 16, 15, 11 and 7, also fell sick after eating at the same stall.

He had gone there at lunch time with his friend.

Unknown to him, his wife, Madam Rohana Ali, 34, a housewife, took their four children to the same stall to eat at about 4pm.

Favourite stall

The stall is one of the family's favourites - they eat there every weekend. 'If I had known, I would have told them not to eat there,' said Mr Abdul, who started suffering from giddiness, severe stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea at about 3pm.

Said Madam Rohana: 'I called my husband many times, he never picked up the phone. Then his friend called and said my husband is sick. So we went to his workplace and called an ambulance.'

Said Mr Abdul: 'The children followed us to the hospital. Then at about 8pm, my wife noticed my children were very pale. One by one, they got sick and started vomiting.'

Their 11-year-old son had blood in his diarrhoea, while their oldest daughter, 16, fainted.

Said Madam Rohana: 'She didn't even know when the doctor put the drip into her arm.'

Because of their young age, three of the children were sent by ambulance to KK Hospital (KKH) while one was admitted to CGH.

Madam Rohana has been shuttling between the two hospitals, and spent Friday night at KKH.

She said she also suffered from stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhoea, but she didn't dare to see a doctor.

She said: 'I just tahan (endure). My children need me. I'm scared they will send me to the women's ward, while my children are in the children's ward. At night, the pain comes and goes, I just pray and pray.'

Another victim, Madam Zuraidah Salleh, 30, is two months' pregnant with her second child.

When she started vomiting and suffering cramps on Friday night, she was worried there was something wrong with the baby.

So she took a cab to CGH with her husband.

She said: 'The most important thing is, the baby is in a stable condition.

'I didn't know this happened to so many people.'

The stall suspected to be responsible for the food poisoning cases will be closed at least for the next two days. Its workers have been told to go for screening at the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC).

A Ministry of Health spokesman said a joint inspection was conducted with officers from the National Environment Agency yesterday morning at the stall.

Samples were collected and investigations are ongoing. According to an NEA spokesman, MOH's preliminary investigations show that the suspected food behind the outbreak is the rojak.

She said that the stallholder and assistant have been directed by MOH to undergo screening for food-borne pathogens at the CDC.

During the inspection, the stall operator was cleaning up his stall. He said he would close his stall for the next two days.

The NEA spokesman added that the agency was notified about the food poisoning cases by the hospitals and customers of the stall.

The stall, at #01-320, was rated two and a half chopsticks out of three in Makansutra's 2007 food guide.

According to the review, regulars swear by its stewed beef liver. Mr Sahari Sulaiman, 44, who runs the Muslim food stall next door, said the Indian rojak stall has been around for more than 20 years, and has a perpetually long queue.

He said it's run by a father-and-son team.

A check with six major hospitals found that more than 100 people sought treatment at their A&Es for food poisoning from the stall since Friday.

A CGH spokesman said that as of 5pm yesterday, the hospital had seen 75 patients suffering from food poisoning after eating at the Indian rojak stall.

Of these, 17 were admitted, and one was placed under observation at the A&E.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital saw 10 adult patients, of which seven were admitted, while KK Hospital saw seven children, of which five were admitted.

The National University Hospital saw nine adult outpatients, while the Singapore General Hospital and Alexandra Hospital saw one outpatient each.

The numbers do not include patients who have gone to private hospitals, polyclinics or GP clinics.

The number of patients involved makes this the biggest reported case of food poisoning since the Prima Deli case in 2007, where more than 150 people fell sick.

Source: NewPaper