The Philippines declared an outbreak of polio on 19th September, after a 3-year-old girl from Lanao del Sur (on Mindanao island) was confirmed to have developed acute flaccid paralysis from vaccine-derived Type 2 poliovirus infection. A second case of polio due to the same virus was announced 2 days later, also on Mindanao but more […]
While looking through old records for a project on the history of Middleton Hospital/Communicable Diseases Centre, we came across numerous references to enteric fever and typhoid in annual reports from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment, and even those from the Medical Department in the Colonial Office (pre-independence) archives. It was clear that starting […]
There were 18 cases of typhoid fever reported in Singapore over 3 weeks, with the onset of symptoms between 13th July and 4th August this year. This is a far larger number than usual – the disease now occurs primarily in returning travelers or migrant workers from countries where the bacterium remains endemic. The cause […]
This topic was previously touched on 2 years ago. The speculation at that time was whether hepatitis E in Singapore is also linked to the consumption of undercooked pork. This seems to be answered by a new study (behind a pay wall) that has just been published in the journal Zoonoses Public Health by investigators […]
For the past several weeks, dengue has been in the news because of the surge in cases – the highest for the past several years. The National Environment Agency (NEA) has attributed this to three main factors: An increase in the Aedes aegypti (the primary vector for the dengue virus in Singapore) population in Singapore. […]
Last week, Singapore experienced its first case of monkeypox in the form of a tourist from Nigeria who developed symptoms only after having spent several days in town. Monkeypox is endemic in west and central Africa, probably maintained in multiple rodent populations with occasional animal-to-human transmission. An excellent review of human cases was published in […]
Measles – a highly contagious viral disease with a characteristic rash – has been in the news of late. The most recent outbreak that made the news was in the Philippines, centering around Metro Manila, Luzon and Visayas. There have been at least 87 reported deaths and more than 5,600 cases reported this year, as […]
The Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp (Belgium) has been organizing annual colloquia since 1959. This year’s colloquium was on antibiotic resistance, and was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 5th to 7th December. I was fortunate enough to be invited for the event, which featured speakers from the ITM (naturally) as well as regional and […]
I managed to attend part of this very well attended symposium which was held on 13th July at University Town. It was organized by my Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health colleague Dr. Vincent Pang and his CIDER team, along with the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA). There were prominent speakers from […]
MIPHIDIC 