One of our little hobby projects – alluded to in my previous post on drug-resistant bugs in pork and beef – has finally been published in a local academic journal. There is quite a lot of published data on the presence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae in food animals, particularly chicken. What about in Singapore? We […]
Naturally, this is biased by what I know and has been reported. But here is what I feel are the significant events in 2016. Outbreaks These are the most easily recalled and form the biggest group of infectious disease events by far. The major outbreaks this year include: Rotavirus gastroenteritis at Pek Kio Market affecting […]
I had the pleasure of reading about Singapore’s decision to develop a national action plan against antimicrobial resistance on the front page of the Straits Times yesterday. It is rare that antimicrobial resistance gets featured so prominently, so kudos to the Straits Times and reporters like Carolyn Khew who are willing to write about these […]
I read icddr,b’s (the acronym for the famous International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh) blog post recently about their ongoing work on antimicrobial resistance. The work is impressive and very relevant to the situation in that country, and the post also brought back memories of a time 6 years ago when I was in […]
I spent a pleasant afternoon yesterday listening to various presentations on completed and semi-completed projects at the SIDI Research Symposium at Waterfront Copthorne (Declaration: I am the current director of the Singapore Infectious Diseases Initiative, or SIDI for short). The projects were very diverse in nature, ranging from basic science to clinical research as well […]
It was reported in the news that the Thai cabinet has approved a national action plan by the Public Health Ministry to halve antibiotic-resistant infections by 2021. This is one of the most ambitious pledges by any government in the battle against antimicrobial resistance to date. I could not find the policy plan online, but […]
I used to think that trying to establish antibiotic stewardship in Singapore in an outpatient setting, just like in private hospitals, was a relatively futile exercise. Multiple factors (or so I thought) contribute to the failure of any serious effort that goes beyond public or physician education, including: Patients who insist on antibiotics (and who can easily obtain […]
Two further observances were held at TTSH and SGH on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th November. There was also a booth set up at NUH on Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week. All events were organised by the respective hospital antimicrobial stewardship programme (ASP) members. Unfortunately I do not have access to more professionally taken […]
Here are some photos of the WAAW event at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, organised by NTFGH Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme team. I had the honour of being invited to give a talk at that event. All photos were taken by Pearl Gan.
Here are some photos of the WAAW event at Jurong Library, organised by staff from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. There is also an attempt at making a Flipagram out of several photos here. All photos were taken by Pearl Gan.
MIPHIDIC 