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Managing and preventing severe hand injuries among sugarcane juicer operators

Dear Editor, Of all hand injuries encountered at an emergency department, 54% are sustained in the workplace,1 in part contributed by occupational injuries among food...

Evaluation of a return to work coordination programme for injured workers in a public hospital in Singapore

Workers who have sustained an injury at work often face difficulties returning to work, according to a study showing that over 40% of injured workers...

Acute Mercury Vapour Poisoning in a Shipyard Worker—A Case Report

Despite improvements in industrial working conditions, mercury remains second only to lead as a cause of heavy metal poisoning. Cases of poisoning by inhaled...

Hard Metal Lung Disease—The First Case in Singapore

A 38-year-old Chinese man and lifetime non-smoker, who had previously been well, was referred for investigation of bilateral reticulonodular infiltrates noted on his chest...

Sharps and Needlestick Injuries: The Impact of Hepatitis B Vaccination as an Intervention Measure

Sharps/needlestick injuries are a common occupational hazard among healthcare workers (HCWs). It is an issue of major infection control concern as it carries with...

Clinical Update on Occupational Asthma

Occupational asthma is the most common occupational respiratory disease in the United Kingdom and also in Singapore. Recent estimates of the proportion of adult...

Exposure of Airline Pilots and Cabin Crew to Cosmic Radiation During Flight—What’s the Fuss?

The possible health effects of increased exposure of aviators to cosmic rays at altitude have been a source of concern for some time, although...

Electromagnetic Fields and Health Outcomes

Over the past two decades, there has been increasing interest in the biological effects and possible health outcomes of weak, low-frequency electric and magnetic...

Comparison of Allergic Contact Dermatitis Cases in the Private and Subsidised Clinics in the National Skin Centre, Singapore

Allergic contact dermatitis is a common clinical problem seen in our dermatology outpatient clinics, comprising 0.5% of patients seen in 1999. In addition to...

The Paget-Schroetter Syndrome: Work Accident and Occupational Disease

Concerning patients with thrombosis of the upper extremity, you can find only a small number of case studies regarding the question of assessment in...

Vascular Changes in Workers Exposed to Carbon Disulfide

Carbon disulfide (CS<sub>2</sub>) is an organic solvent which is used all over the world in the production of viscose rayon fibres. A large number...

Multifactorial Aetiology of Lung Cancer Among Silica-exposed Workers

The earliest reports of a wasting disease among miners date back in the 1500s, with the description by Paracelsus and Agricola of the so-called...

N-acetyltransferase 2 Phenotype in Painters with Bladder Cancer and Controls

In 1989, the International Agency for Research on Cancer acknowledged “painting” as an occupation that definitely causes cancer. Lung cancer was most strongly associated...

Helicobacter pylori Infection: Epidemiology and Occupational Risk for Health Care Workers

Since Warren and Marshall successfully cultured Helicobacter pylori in 1983, it has been recognised as a major cause of several gastroduodenal diseases, including gastric...

Genes, Work and Health

Occupational health has been aptly described as a two-way relationship between work and health. This has served as a useful model emphasizing that workplace...

Renal Dysfunction in Workers Exposed to Inorganic Lead

Chronic lead exposure causes progressive nephropathy that eventually results in renal failure. Known as chronic lead nephropathy, this disease has been recognised since the...

Book Review

Having ‘grown-up’ on occupational medicine practice textbooks traditionally written by European and American counterparts, I was pleasantly surprised to pick up a new book...

Late-life Depression: Current Issues and New Challenges

Depression in late life (>60 years old) is one of the most common and treatable psychiatric disorders in the elderly. It not only causes...

Malignant Mesothelioma: Experience at the Singapore General Hospital

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare tumour and is typically associated with asbestos exposure. In endemic areas, it has an estimated incidence as high as...

Patterns and predictors of sound levels in hospital rooms

Dear Editor,      Excessive sound levels in the hospital can impair the work performance of healthcare professionals and affect patient well-being.1 Previous studies have also...

The Role of Public Health and Occupational Physicians in the New Millennium

I want to thank the Chapter and organisers for honouring me with this kind invitation to speak to you. This millennium is only 4...

An Assessment of Electronically Captured Data in the Patient Care Enhancement System (PACES) for Syndromic Surveillance

There is growing awareness of the need for efficient, real-time identification of infectious disease outbreaks. The bioterrorism attacks involving anthrax bacilli, 1 and the...

Rehabilitation Medicine

I congratulate Dr Kong Keng He and his fellow authors on their excellent special edition on Rehabilitation Medicine and the Rehabilitation Physician published last...

The Tao of Bao: A Randomised Controlled Trial Examining the Effect of Steamed Bun Consumption on Night-Call Inpatient Course and Mortality

The modern world remains full of superstition. Often, despite their better judgement, intelligent rational people adopt rituals and strategies to cope with anxiety and...

A History of the Chapter of Public Health and Occupational Physicians

The history of the Chapter of Public Health and Occupational Physicians began with the founding of the Academy of Medicine in 1957. It was...

Major Workplace Related Accidents in Singapore: A Major Trauma Centre’s Experience

Workplace related accidents are major problems around the world and in Singapore. The Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States reported a total of 5702...

Evaluating User Satisfaction with an Electronic Prescription System in a Primary Care Group

Electronic prescribing has been proposed as an important strategy to reduce medication errors,1 improve the quality of patient care2 and create savings in healthcare...

A Review of Back Injury Cases Notified to the Ministry of Manpower from 2011 to 2012

Work-related low back disorders consist of both low back pain (LBP) and low back injuries. They are a significant and increasing problem all over...

Prevalence of Chronic Mental and Physical Disorders, Impact on Work Productivity and Correlates of Alcohol Use Disorders and Nicotine Dependence across Occupations

Singapore is an island city-state in Southeast Asia with a multi-ethnic population comprising 74.2% Chinese, 13.4% Malays, 9.2% Indians, and the rest belonging to...

Health-seeking behaviour of foreign workers in Singapore: Insights from emergency department visits

Singapore employs a large foreign worker (FW) population, defined as non-Singapore citizens and non-permanent residents working locally. Holders of “work permit” (WP), the work...