16-year-old who suffered cardiac arrest now in general ward, Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
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16-year-old who suffered cardiac arrest now in general ward

This article is more than 12 months old

The 16-year-old boy who suffered a cardiac arrest after taking a Covid-19 vaccine early last month is in a general ward and "responding very positively to treatment", said the Ministry of Health's (MOH) group director of the crisis strategy and operations group, Mr Dinesh Vasu Dash, yesterday.

The teenager had collapsed at home on the morning of July 3, shortly after a strenuous weightlifting session, six days after his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty vaccine.

The boy had lifted weights almost twice his body weight, and had also been taking some supplements, Singapore's director of medical services Kenneth Mak said last month.

Investigations were launched to determine the cause of the boy's cardiac arrest. It remains unclear if the incident was linked to his vaccination.

On July 15, the ministry updated that the teenager was out of intensive care and in a high dependency ward in the coronary care unit of National University Hospital.

RESPONDING WELL

Yesterday, Mr Dinesh said: "He was in ICU for quite a while. Thankfully, he's back to a general ward right now and responding very, very positively to the treatment."

Mr Dinesh was delivering a virtual lecture on Singapore's Covid-19 vaccination programme at the Singapore Healthcare Management Congress, with about 1,800 healthcare leaders here and abroad tuning in.

He gave credit to the teen's brother, who jumped to his aid with timely cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after he collapsed.

"I think the brother did the initial CPR and that was, according to what I'm told, absolutely excellent," said Mr Dinesh.

"And the medical professionals who took care of him (the boy) - I think they did an excellent job, and he's now on the road to recovery," he added.

"I think it's fortuitous that he is very young and therefore his ability to recover is much better in this particular case." - THE STRAITS TIMES

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