An enduring source of frustration, wonder (and resignation) for those who deal with infectious diseases outbreaks is the vast difference in scale of response to “fast-moving” and “slow-moving” outbreaks. In “fast-moving” (think SARS, MERS, Ebola, novel influenza, etc.) outbreaks, the public perception of risk is far greater than the actual risk of the disease, and […]
News about the G-7 Leaders’ Summit in Germany was somewhat overshadowed by the news about the South Korea MERS-CoV outbreak, at least in this part of the world. However, antimicrobial resistance was on the agenda, and can be found in the joint declaration by the leaders of G-7. The Annex to the Declaration can be found […]
There are currently 108 confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infection in South Korea, with 9 deaths. The youngest person that has died to date is a 57-year-old woman hospitalised at St. Mary’s Hospital at Pyeongtaek, whereas the eldest is an 82-year-old man at Kon Yang University Hospital. Transmission has been reported at a 7th healthcare institution […]
As of early this morning (presumably including cases up to Sunday 7th June), there are now 87 cases of MERS-CoV infection in South Korea, with 6 deaths. The updated list of cases is at the Flutrackers forum here. There is also a list of 24 hospitals that is managing or had been visited by patients with MERS, […]
A young man with HIV (latest CD4 count = 148 cells/cubic millimetre of blood) presented with diarrhoea of 2 weeks after traveling to Bangkok, Thailand for a holiday. There was no fever and no blood in the stool. A short course of oral antibiotics had not helped, and routine stool work-up – involving stool culture […]
The MERS-CoV outbreak in South Korea has expanded to 50 cases with 4 deaths as of 5th June 2015. I have not included a transmission tree this time as the details of 7 of the 9 cases reported yesterday are not available. The Ministry of Health Singapore had announced on 3rd June 2015 that patients […]
Other than the WHO statements, there are a number of English websites tracking the South Korean MERS-CoV outbreak, the most updated ones being Avian Flu Diary and the Flutrackers forum. CIDRAP also provides fairly detailed coverage. The case count is now apparently at 35 (as of 3rd June 2015) with 2 deaths, and I have […]
The evolving outbreak of the Middle-East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in South Korea is the largest to date outside the Middle Eastern countries, involving 12 persons to date (including one that had – ignoring the advice of South Korean health officials – flown to Hong Kong on 26th May and then to Huizhou via Shenzhen […]
A man in late middle-age, who in his youth had traveled extensively around the region, presented with nagging right upper abdominal discomfort for 2 weeks. He had no fever. The chest X-ray is shown below. Question: What is the abnormality seen and what infectious disease could this possibly be? [Updated 6th June 2015] There is a […]
There is a lot of interesting data available on tuberculosis (TB) in Singapore, available from multiple sources. I was quite privileged to receive a copy of Dr Heng Bee Hoon’s (Director, Health Services and Outcome Research, National Healthcare Group) 1988 Master of Science in Public Health thesis “The Secular Trends of Tuberculosis in Singapore” from the […]
MIPHIDIC 