A middle-aged woman from Bangladesh sought treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in Singapore. Her diagnosis was first made in a hospital in Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh), where she stayed for 10 days prior to her transfer here. She had presented with fever, muscle aches and increasing fatigue, and had received antibiotics for unremitting […]
This is a more “specialised” and technical clinical vignette. An elderly man was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for acute respiratory distress from pulmonary oedema, and required intubation with mechanical ventilation. He had multiple co-morbid conditions including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, and ischaemic heart disease (with left ventricular ejection fraction of 35%). Three […]
A straightforward case for the Christmas week – Merry Christmas and Happy 2015, by the way! This young man returned from Gambia 2 weeks ago, and started having high fever for 5 days prior to seeking medical attention. He had been on a missionary trip, helping to build schools and houses in rural villages in […]
This is the same middle-aged man presented in the previous clinical vignette. He had undergone allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) for underlying B-cell leukemia, with subsequent acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) of the liver. This was complicated 6 months later by RSV pneumonitis as previously described. His recovery was slow and required oxygen support even 3 […]
This middle-aged man had undergone allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) for underlying B-cell leukemia. Six months later, he presented with fever and persistent cough for one day. At the emergency department, he was found to have bilateral rhonci, and was significantly tachypneic and hypoxic, requiring BiPAP ventilation in the intensive care unit (ICU). As a […]
The 50th post on this blog! And perhaps it is fitting to put up this case, which I reviewed as a fairly new trainee in infectious diseases slightly more than a decade ago… This young girl, who had just turned 18, developed upper respiratory tract symptoms and fever 4 days prior to hospitalisation. Her fever […]
A middle-aged (60-year-old) man with Type 2 diabetes mellitus and past history of tuberculosis presented with low-grade fever for 2 weeks and a 1.5 cm nodule over his left lower back (approximately L1 level). This was determined to be an abscess and creamy white pus was aspirated by his general practitioner. The Gram stain showed […]
A middle-aged man presented with a low-grade fever (37.8 degrees Celsius) and sudden pain over his right thigh for 3 days, which did not resolve with painkillers. He has a history of diabetes mellitus, and had a road traffic accident 30 years ago resulting in the fracture of his right femur. This was repaired (open reduction […]
An elderly man from Indonesia presented with loss of appetite and weight for 6 weeks, with fever and night sweats for the last 2 weeks. He had no contact history of note, and was previously well. Clinical examination was unremarkable except for a temperature of 38.3 degrees Celsius. His chest X-ray and a representative cut from the […]
MIPHIDIC 