A short summary of the current dilemma with antibiotic development. Others, including the World Health Organization and Infectious Diseases Society of America, have expressed this issue more elegantly and in greater detail (click on the links to check out), but it bears repeating: Drug discovery is tough. Discovering or creating a new (i.e. novel class of antibiotics) antibiotic […]
I have generally followed the World Economic Forum with interest over the past few years, particularly with regards to infectious diseases topics that feature on the agenda of the great and the good. Their perspectives are often different from the healthcare professionals on the ground, as the focus is primarily on global economics and trade, […]
The ECG from Clinical Vignette 17 was actually obtained from the patient described below: This middle-aged man, a sailor, was transferred to the hospital directly after his ship sailed into port. He had been ill for 2 months, with low-grade fever, weight loss of almost 8 kg, and shortness of breath upon exertion. His chest […]
I have not commented on the Ebola epidemic for a while. But things are finally looking up. The number of new cases reported each week has continued to fall in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, while Mali has now been declared free of Ebola after 42 days without a new case of Ebola reported. The […]
Shameless self-plug – but I had my first interview with Channel NewsAsia Live TV yesterday evening, on their “Between the Lines” program. It was on the novel antibiotic teixobactin and the iChip platform, and featured Dr Dallas Hughes (President of Novobiotic Pharmaceuticals LLC), as well as Prof Vinod K Paul (Head of Paediatrics at the […]
A plug for the 1st International Meeting on Respiratory Pathogens, held at the Furama Hotel Waterfront in Singapore from 2nd to 4th September 2015. The conference website, with more meeting and registration details, and abstract datelines, is here. The meeting is organised by the International Society of Influenza and Respiratory Viruses (ISIRV).
Rather than a case description, it’s just an ECG this time, obtained from a middle-aged man almost two decades ago. Question: What is the ECG diagnosis? [Updated 24th January 2015] The ECG shows short voltages on all leads, and electrical alternans (i.e. alternating taller and shorter voltages) on the long lead 2 at the bottom. These […]
Attended the International Congress of Infection Control Association (Singapore) – ICICAS for short – held at the Waterfront Copthorne Hotel in Singapore today. Held over 2 days (with a series of pre-congress workshops on various practical aspects of infection control), this congress is organised by the Infection Control Association (Singapore) (ICAS) and chaired by the […]
I have finally had the chance to read the Nature article (behind a pay wall) that has been making waves in the recent news, including the Guardian, Forbes and Bloomberg among others. The authors, who are from academic institutions in the USA (Boston) and Germany (Bonn), as well as a drug discovery company from the UK (Selcia, Ongar, […]
For the week ending 3rd January 2015, influenza activity in the US remained above epidemic levels, defined by the pneumonia and influenza mortality surveillance that was above the epidemic threshold of 6.9% for that week. The laboratory confirmed influenza hospitalisation rates have also gone up in all age groups, alarmingly so for those who are […]
MIPHIDIC 