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hospitalization bill for my maid

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x9200
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Post by x9200 » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 2:21 pm

nakatago wrote:
x9200 wrote:
batgirl_cdn wrote:Why isn't there an info resource for employers for what to do in situations like this? I haven't seen anything on MOM pages.
Because I guess nothing like this is supposed to happen or does not happen frequently or everybody pretends it does not.
What are you talking about? You can't blame me if my maid suddenly decided to go home!

:roll:
Digest: the maid got fully developed symptoms of TB after 2 months of being in SG meaning that likely she was not well screened. She should have been well screened and the situation that a person sick with that easily transmittable disease is placed n somebody's home should not take place and likely rarely happens. No idea what this has to do with blaming somebody for a maid deciding to go home but I trust you will shade some light over here.

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Post by nakatago » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 3:04 pm

we really need sarcasm tags. :lol:

but back on topic of why aren't there visible mechanisms in place for employers wanting to help their maids, maybe because of a lot of employers failing to show some light shred of empathy for maids, it didn't occur to the government that someone will want to know in case a maid falls terribly ill and in the very off chance that an employer would actually want to do something substantial to help the maid.

about TB, being from a third-world country, I tested positive for a TB spot test. I haven't shown any symptoms since that test which has been years already (and all my subsequent annual chest x-rays are all clear). I asked around and indeed, the third-world will indeed manifest more people "with TB."

about OP, however, I'm assuming that the TB is in a more advanced stage since the maid required quarantine/hospitalization? in any case, I wish there were more people like in Singapore that, you know, care about their domestic help.
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."

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Post by batgirl_cdn » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:51 pm

Well, I just think it is a tough situation all around. The disease has to be treated in the helper and anyone exposed to her who tests positive. Singapore has very good health care, so very lucky the TB can be treated here. The helper came to Singapore to work and send money home, and she may have a large debt to pay, so it would be terrible for her to be sent back to her country, because when she is healthy and wants to return she will be in debt again to return to Singapore. So, it isn't only the employer who has money at stake in this situation. Then there is the question of when she will be fit to work again, and what the needs of the family are. Very hard :(

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Post by x9200 » Sun, 01 Aug 2010 9:44 am

nakatago wrote: it didn't occur to the government that someone will want to know in case a maid falls terribly ill and in the very off chance that an employer would actually want to do something substantial to help the maid.

Probably a good reason but one would think that a communicable disease by itself and of this kind should trigger some action but perhaps this is what I already said above: it is not that dangerous to the public safety as it seems? TB mainly attacks people that are malnourished or have their immunological system weakened somehow.

about TB, being from a third-world country, I tested positive for a TB spot test. I haven't shown any symptoms since that test which has been years already (and all my subsequent annual chest x-rays are all clear). I asked around and indeed, the third-world will indeed manifest more people "with TB."

The spot test shows only immunological response so you do not need to be sick or even have a single living bacteria in your organism now or earlier. It shows the presence of TB related antibodies so in this test you would be TB positive also if you were only vaccinated against TB. Of course it will also be positive if you are actually infected but for most people it would be rather related to the vaccination or some exposure to TB where their organism managed to fight it without any help and they were not even aware of it.

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Post by morenangpinay » Sat, 14 Aug 2010 11:11 am

Importance of Early Diagnosis and Complete Treatment of TB Cases

4 To successfully control TB and curb community transmission, it is important to ensure that all cases with TB are diagnosed early and undergo complete treatment (6 to 9 months) until fully cured. Those who fail to adhere to treatment may continue to be infectious or may suffer a relapse some time later as all the TB bacteria may not have been killed. Worse still, the tuberculosis bacteria may mutate to a drug-resistant form which will be more difficult to treat. Treatment will then have to be for at least 18 months, instead of 6 months.

5 Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) is the international standard of care for TB treatment. Under DOT, a trained healthcare professional supervises the patient taking each dose of anti-TB medication and ensures patient’s compliance with treatment. At the same time, it enables the healthcare professional to monitor the patient for any side-effects of treatment. DOT is therefore the ideal mode of treatment for patients with TB and is available in all polyclinics in Singapore.

6 Persons with symptoms suggestive of TB (such as prolonged cough, fever, night sweats, unexplained loss of weight and appetite, tiredness) should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Family members should also bring their loved ones to the doctor if they notice these symptoms.



Employers should be supportive by allowing their workers to take some time off to go to the polyclinic for DOT. Employers should uphold workers who take every dose of medicine faithfully and complete their treatment, as responsible colleagues who are considerate to their fellow workers. Generally, a person becomes non-infectious after just 2 weeks of treatment. This period of treatment is covered by medical leave. There is thus no risk of transmission at the workplace when the TB patient returns to work.

11 For those who persistently default treatment and thus pose a public health risk to the community, MOH will take enforcement action by requiring them to comply with treatment under the Infectious Diseases Act. Persons who continue to default their treatment may also be detained at the Communicable Diseases Centre at Tan Tock Seng Hospital for treatment until they are cured.


A doctor who diagnoses a person with TB is required by law to notify the TB Control Unit (TBCU). The TBCU then conducts contact tracing to identify persons who may have been put at risk. Only persons who have had close and prolonged contact with persons suffering from active TB disease are at risk. These close contacts are given a skin test (Mantoux test) to assess whether they may have been infected. Reading of the Mantoux test results is done 48-72 hrs after the testing. Persons who tested positive for Mantoux test are then screened further by a Chest X-ray and given a clinical physical examination to exclude active TB disease. Persons with a positive Mantoux test but have no signs of symptoms of active TB disease have latent TB infection (LTBI).

Contact tracing, Mantoux testing and chest X-rays carried out by the TBCU is provided free under the National TB Control Programme.






-ministry of health mar 2010

i hope that helped somehow, i am sure the country has the cure necessary. I believe you just need to consult with the experts on what to do. but I appreciate your considerate actions in seeking treatments for her.

i hope it works out in the end and please post what information you obtained so that others will be informed of what to do also.

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Post by Doc » Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:03 pm

Just a follow-up to my earlier post.

First of all, thanks for all those who are concerned about us and about the domestic helper. I think I did not make myself clear first. I got her transferred from another family after she has been working for the other family for around a year. So we did not go through another round of health tests, naively assuming since she has been through all the tests, and she never left Singapore for the last year, she should be fine. So she actually developed the TB in Singapore.

When she was diagnosed as TB, she was still in the early stage. I guess that's why the hospital would not take her,. But our family was taking extra cautious to have her stay in one of our room only. Eventually after around 2-3 weeks of treatment, she was getting better and was no longer contagious. She requested going home to Myanmar when she was fine and the doctor in Singapore signed the release letter, which indicated that she was ok to take flights, etc. And we agreed.

That is part of the nightmare. Then our whole family were requested by the Singapore TB Control Unit to have TB tests, from skin tests, to x-ray, to culture, depending on each individual's situation. So far, after around three months after her diagnosis, here was what happened to my family:

1. my mother-in-law, my daughter, my husband and I were all cleared, we are fine;

2. My one-and-half year old son was found to have latent TB virus, and he is undertaking a 9-month medical treatment, which means he needs to take the medicine every day for the following 9-months! and the doctor is monitoring the process given the potential side effect of the medicine;

3. The case for my father-in-law is still unclear. They need to have his sample cultured, and it is not yet clear what is going on with him.

All-in-all, nobody is to blame. We just had a bad draw. Luckily, the maid returned home in good health condition, and she was thankful to my family to take care of her during those days. As to the medical bill, since she was not hospitalized, we took all the medical bill. As it is TB, the treatment after the diagnosis is free. But we did pay for out-of-pocket of over $1,000 medical bill before the diagnosis. Medical bill aside, it is the whole mess that the situation created.

We had a battle for a while whether we would go ahead to replace with another maid. Eventually we did. Thank god, after around 2-months of waiting time for the processing, our new maid is fine now.

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Post by x9200 » Sat, 23 Oct 2010 3:58 pm

Thanks for posting this update and really sorry for your kid. Hope everybody and everything will be fine soon. Good luck (at last)!

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