I had some time to reflect after finishing a rather interesting meeting in Thailand organised by a pharmaceutical company. In their usual way, the company had invited representatives from different countries in the region to obtain perspectives on the issue of antimicrobial resistance – specifically carbapenem resistance and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) – in our countries. Naturally, they […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
A middle-aged woman from Bangladesh sought treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in Singapore. Her diagnosis was first made in a hospital in Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh), where she stayed for 10 days prior to her transfer here. She had presented with fever, muscle aches and increasing fatigue, and had received antibiotics for unremitting […]
Dr. William Stewart, then Surgeon General of USA, famously said in 1967, “It’s time to close the books on infectious diseases, declare the war against pestilence won, and shift national resources to such chronic problems as cancer and heart disease.” Many, including myself, have used this quote to illustrate the shortsightedness of human nature, even […]
This is a more “specialised” and technical clinical vignette. An elderly man was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for acute respiratory distress from pulmonary oedema, and required intubation with mechanical ventilation. He had multiple co-morbid conditions including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, and ischaemic heart disease (with left ventricular ejection fraction of 35%). Three […]
I came across this site via a search on “superbugs” on Google News. The UK review team was commissioned by the UK Prime Minister in July 2014, and published its first report about 2 weeks ago. By the end of 2 years – summer 2016 – the Review will have to propose a package of […]
An unusual post in the Sports pages of the Straits Times today, highlighting the finding of superbugs in the Rio de Janeiro bay where the 2016 Olympics sailing and surfing competitions will be held (unfortunately behind the ST pay wall). It is a remarkable thing to find an article on antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the ST, […]
Managed to attend more talks today. The morning plenary was delivered by Prof Hsueh Po Ren from Taipei, Taiwan, who described in detail the escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance in the Asia-Pacific region. The quality of the photos is poor (taken using an iPhone 5!), given the dim lighting during the talks. The subsequent keynote […]
MIPHIDIC 