A young local man in his late 20’s, previously well, was found on pre-employment screening to have abnormal chest X-ray. He was otherwise asymptomatic. He underwent sputum induction for tuberculosis work-up (sputum microscopy and cultures for acid-fast bacilli, and PCR for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex), and both sputum samples were negative for acid-fast bacilli on microscopy and MTC on PCR. […]
There were 6 new patients with MERS-CoV infection over the past 3 days of reporting (23rd to 25th June 2015) in South Korea, bringing the total to 181. Deaths now stand at 31 (case fatality rate of 17.1%). One more healthcare institution is now involved – Good Gang-An Hospital in Busan – with a patient who […]
Dr. Kathryn Holt from the University of Melbourne published a very important paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences yesterday, using whole genome sequencing to study the population structure as well as virulence and antimicrobial resistance factors of Klebsiella pneumoniae. A total of 288 isolates from 6 countries (Australia, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, U.S.A. […]
Six new cases between 21st and 22nd June 2015, with a total of 175 in South Korea. There are now 27 deaths (case fatality rate of 15.4%). According to the South Korean health ministry, “only” 2,805 individuals were still being monitored as of 22nd June, representing approximately a 26.8% drop from the day before. The outbreak […]
What has been remarkable so far is the rapid availability of information and data on the MERS-CoV outbreak in South Korea. Anyone with the slightest inclination can – in the comfort of home or office – generate epidemic curves or other informative graphics (and indeed many have done so – my Twitter account is full of […]
A middle-aged man underwent non-myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia, receiving alemtuzumab just prior to the transplant. Recovery during the immediate post-transplantation period was unremarkable, but he remained on tacrolimus, mycophenolate and low-dose prednisolone for chronic graft-versus-host disease involving the skin, gastrointestinal tract and oral/conjunctival mucosa. Routine cytomegalovirus (CMV) screening of […]
The outbreak in South Korea seems to be winding to a close, with just four cases reported over the past two days. There are now 24 deaths from 166 cases (14.5%), with the caveat that probably over half of the cases would not have recovered from their illness yet. I would nonetheless expect the final case […]
MERS-CoV cases in South Korea now stand at 162, with 20 deaths (12.3%). There were 4 and 8 cases confirmed on Monday and Tuesday respectively. Yahoo! News reported that a few of the new patients had not been under quarantine, despite being known contacts of cases. Two-thirds of the infected patients are male, and the […]
Currently attending the 1st Borneo Tropical Diseases Congress, held at the Tanjung Aru Resort in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. This 2-day event is organised by the Infectious Diseases Society Kota Kinabalu Sabah, which is currently led by Dr. Timothy William – an infectious diseases physician who has published extensively on malaria and other tropical diseases […]
The case count had risen to 150, with 16 deaths (10.7%, although most of the infected cases are unlikely to have recovered) as of 14th June 2015. The majority of schools in South Korea that had been closed as a precautionary measure have re-opened yesterday. Samsung Medical Centre, from which close to 50% of all […]
MIPHIDIC 