The SGH Department of Microbiology blogger has just uploaded a paper to biorXiv describing our little hobby project with staff and students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Out of 10 beef (Australia, NZ and Brazil) and 20 pork (Australia, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia) samples from various local supermarkets, one MRSA (from a hunk of pork shoulder ostensibly […]
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 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 […]
An ongoing Facebook discussion on medical tourism set me thinking about its implications. There are many who argue that more should be done to encourage the growth of Singapore’s medical tourism industry, which reached its peak In 2012. Reasons include regional stature, development of more specialized medical skills (due to a larger pool of patients […]
It was both a surprise and an honour to be invited for the lecture organised by the Science and Innovation Team of the British High Commission. Prof Sally Davies has been UK’s chief medical officer (equivalent in rank to permanent secretary in the civil service) since 2010, the first woman to attain that position. The […]
Took a truncated hiatus from Zika to attend the 17th International Sympsium on Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Infections held at the Nine Tree Convention Centre in Seoul, Korea. It’s a rather quaint and unique conference, centered around one single bacterial genus (but it’s almost all about Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA), held every two years rotating between […]
It was nice to receive a certificate of appreciation from the SG50 Steering Committee half a year after our project was completed (although the signature is likely an electronic one). Our various interview videos and the documentary are still available on YouTube on our own channel. The hardcover book is still available at Kinokuniya (although […]
Part of the pleasure of attending any large medical conference is viewing the trade exhibition. In ECCMID this year, the pharmaceutical industry is out in force but are outnumbered by the diagnostics companies. The trend continues towards point-of-care and easy to use diagnostics platforms. Next generation sequencing has not made it to prime time yet. […]
The annual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases is going on now at the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre, and will end on 12th April. This meeting has grown from strength to strength, and now has more than 11,000 attendees each year. Attending the session on individualised management of invasive […]
Dr Moses Yu passed away yesterday morning, 30th December 2015, at the age of 82 years. He was the first locally trained microbiologist in Singapore, heading the Department of Pathology at the Ministry of Health Singapore (the Department was only transferred to Singapore General Hospital in 1989 – a move that met with mixed reception. […]
MIPHIDIC 