Operation Asha is a non-profit NGO founded in 2005 by two Indian nationals – Dr Shelly Batra and Mr Sandeep Ahuja – with the primary aim of bringing “TB treatment to disadvantaged communities”. Its headquarters are in India, although the NGO also operates in Cambodia and USA (the latter mainly fundraising and research). I was […]
Visited Phnom Penh for the first time last week as part of a delegation from the School of Public Health (the School has a Tuberculosis Control in Cambodia Programme that it implements in partnership with the University of Health Sciences in Cambodia as well as the famous London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine). It […]
I had previously written about the teacher from Little Greenhouse preschool with tuberculosis, whose contract was had appeared to be at risk of premature termination according to media reports (the preschool has since put this decision on hold). A concerned member of the public wrote in quickly to express unease at the decision, which would […]
A colleague pointed out that the preschool teacher diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis could have her contract terminated early, according to news reports, although this part was not clear from the Todayonline report. I hope that this does not happen. TB-infected patients are generally not infectious after just 2 weeks of appropriate therapy, and the vast […]
The latest to make the news is that of a pre-school teacher (Little Greenhouse, Bukit Batok) who was diagnosed with pulmonary TB last Wednesday, leading to planned screening of all 104 pre-schoolers 20 staff. This follows news of the elderly resident from Peacehaven Bedok Day Centre who was diagnosed with TB in June, leading to […]
A young odd-jobs man presented with cough for 3 months, associated with weight loss and fatigue at work. Finally seeking medical attention at a public hospital, he was found to have cavitation and infiltrates in the right upper lobe of the lung, with sputum microscopy showing high counts of acid-fast bacilli (AFB 4+). He was […]
Tuberculosis, Singapore Curiously, a report of 2 SMRT train drivers and a crew manager being diagnosed with TB made it to the news today. Only one among them had active disease – the other two were diagnosed with latent tuberculosis which is non-infectious. Such cases are rarely highlighted in our mainstream media. The risk of tuberculosis […]
There are many criticisms made of our local press, but it is clear that we have good journalists. Ms Kelly Ng from Today has figured out what MOH appeared to have left out from its press release, which is that the Ang Mo Kio MDR-TB cluster ultimately has its roots in the 2012 Parklane cybercafe outbreak. The index […]
News of this outbreak – involving 6 MDR-TB cases to date – was released to the press yesterday evening by the Singapore Ministry of Health. The Channelnewsasia report also includes video footage of our Director of Medical Services as well as Prof Sonny Wang, long-term director of the TB Control Unit. These 6 cases were […]
I received the Ministry of Health Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) for tuberculosis a couple of weeks ago. The full version is also available on the MOH website here. Mixed feelings. There is always a bit of pride at having contributed to such things. Having sat in on the meetings, I am also aware of the […]
MIPHIDIC 