KUALA SELANGOR: A bite from a centipede's fangs is believed to
have caused the death of a seven-month pregnant woman and her
unborn child.
Azlina Saian, 33, had thought that she was bitten by an ant as she
laid on
the floor watching television with her husband at their home in
Kampung
Tanjung Siam Baru on Dec 29.
Thinking that it was only a minor ant bite, her husband Abdul
Rahman Samad,
37, told her to apply some ointment.
It was only when Azlina1s face started to swell that Abdul Rahman
became
worried.
By midnight, four hours after the incident, Azlina was running a
high fever.
The odd-job worker later discovered a small centipede among the
pillows
where Azlina had been lying down earlier but thought nothing of
it.
However, Azlina's condition worsened over the next two days and she
started to bleed from the gums on New Year's Day.
"I rushed her to the Tanjung Karang Hospital but on the way there,
she said
she could feel our baby slipping away," he said.
Their worst fears were confirmed when doctors told them that the
foetus was
dead.
Azlina was transferred to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR) in
Klang for
further treatment but her condition continued to deteriorate.
"She was bleeding from the nose and under her fingernails and even
a blood
transfusion could not help."
Abdul Rahman said doctors induced the foetus which appeared
swollen.
HTAR director Dr Yahaya Baba said that the victim died of
septicaemic (blood
poisoning) and shock.
Azlina died at 8.15am yesterday and was buried at a cemetery near
their home in Kuala Selangor.
