Finally attempting to complete this series after a long hiatus. Fungal infections are common in patients with prolonged neutropenia (and therefore predominantly in patients with malignant haematological conditions or after allogeneic stem cell transplantation), and were present in a significant propotion of patients with acute leukaemia in various historical autopsy series. These infections are conventionally divided into yeast […]
Chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia is a life-threatening condition that remains common during the therapy of haematological malignancies, but has become far rarer for patients with solid tumours because of the increased use of targeted therapy. It is traditionally defined as a single oral temperature of 38.3ºC or a temperature of greater than 38.0ºC sustained for more […]
The World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos is probably the largest and most important networking event in the world, regularly attended by political and business leaders from across the globe. For 11 years now, the WEF has published an annual list of what its experts perceive to be the most important global risks and how these […]
The SG50 infectious diseases project “Overcoming Infectious Diseases and Singapore: Past, Present and Future” was officially launched at the end of last year at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) Theatrette. The occasion was graced by the new Minister of State for the Ministries of Communications & Information, and Health, as well as the TTSH CEO, […]
It is the last day of 2015, and therefore timely to reflect back on the significant events of the year. Oftentimes, the true impact of certain events are not known until much later in the future, and media hype (or lack thereof) creates its own bias which is hard to overcome. Here is a personal […]
Many thanks to Dr Edmund Monteiro, former Director of Communicable Diseases Centre, who gamely agreed to be interviewed on Channel News Asia’s First Look Asia about his experiences with infectious diseases in the past, and also about our SG50 Project. The interview was done live on 14th December 2015. You can view his video interview […]
Prof Feng Pao Hsii, Father of Rheumatology in Singapore, passed away yesterday. His contributions to rheumatology and medicine in general are many, as this citation by Dr Bernard Thong for Prof Feng’s conferment of the Singapore Medical Association Honorary Membership in 2014 clearly shows. There will no doubt be many better eulogies and accolades in […]
I was privileged to be asked to contribute some thoughts on antimicrobial resistance for the December 2015 issue of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) Commentary Magazine. The article – well written by Iain Fossey – is not as interesting as the other feature article on English polymath magician John Dee’s (1527-1608) library that somehow ended […]
After the fall back to baseline of severe Group B streptococcal infections in August, I did not expect to write another post of GBS so soon. But it just goes to show that the management of outbreaks and implementation of policies are both not always straightforward. An excellent recap of the GBS outbreak in Singapore […]
This week marks World Antibiotic Awareness Week (16th-22nd November 2015), the third since its inception in 2013. It had its genesis in the European Antibiotic Awareness Day, which originated on 18th November 2008, as well as the U.S. “Get Smart about Antibiotics” week (originally in October 2008). It serves as a way to increase public awareness […]
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