Dear Editor, Thrombosis is an unexpected complication of COVID-19 initially reported in 3 patients from China.1 These patients tested positive for immunoglobulin (Ig) A anticardiolipin...

Dear Editor, Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection affects approximately 248 million individuals in the world1 and 3.6% of the Singapore population.2 Given the natural history...

Glaucoma is a major cause of world blindness in developing and developed nations. The WHO Global data on blindness show that over half of...

The study of poisoning has been relatively neglected in Singapore. A check through the Infogate database of the National University of Singapore Library revealed...

Sir James Paget’s description in 1877 of “a form of chronic inflammation of bones” which now bears his name was based entirely on clinical...

The last two decades have witnessed dramatic changes in the understanding of gastric cancer: a rapid decline in global incidence, its association with Helicobacter...

Pityriasis rosea is a common, self-limited disorder of unknown but suspected viral aetiology, that develops abruptly with few or no prodromal symptoms. Classically, the...

Myopia is the commonest eye disease worldwide, and is especially prevalent in certain Asian countries such as Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong. Physiologic myopia...

Granuloma annulare (GA) is a benign, inflammatory disorder of the skin that has no proven aetiology or widely accepted theory of pathogenesis. There are...

Myopia affects up to 70% of adults in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. The prevalence rates in these Asian countries are higher than...

Comparisons of disease frequency in different ethnic groups help to unravel the contributions of nature and nurture in their aetiology and to identify environmental...

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in persons older than 50 years are rarely studied because STDs are more common in young people. There is very...

Germ cell tumours (GCTs) in children account for 2% to 3% of childhood malignancies. They arise from primordial germ cells and constitute a heterogeneous...

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune subepidermal blistering disorder affecting mainly the elderly. It is characterised by autoantibodies to the basement membrane zone (BMZ),...

Fractures, the most serious complication of osteoporosis, are increasing and constitute an evolving public health problem in terms of disability, mortality and cost. A...

Osteoporosis is regarded as an important public health problem in many Caucasian populations. Much of the research on epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, genetic and molecular...

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 only published study on Behcet’s disease in Singapore by Tan E et al (34 patients at the National Skin Centre) found that only...

Twin studies are regarded as one of the better ways to study the effects and significance of gene, environment and interactions of both. The...

The issue of ophthalmic trauma is a major cause for concern. An estimated 55 million eye injuries occur each year worldwide, leaving 1.6 million...

The emergence and spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates from the community that are distinct from their archetypal healthcare-associated counterparts (HA-MRSA) marked a...

There has been increasing interest in building surveillance systems capable of detecting outbreaks of infectious diseases, at the stage where clinical presentation would still...

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been established as an effective treatment modality for patients with symptomatic knee arthritis. It provides predictable decrement in pain,...

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of vision loss in Asia. Singapore has one of the highest prevalence rates of diabetes mellitus (DM)...

Across the globe, there has been a rapid increase in the absolute and relative numbers of older persons. According to the 1993 World Bank...

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality around the world.1 Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) constitutes about 15% to 25% of all lung...

Diabetes is a major public health problem, and diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in working-aged people.1 Previous studies have documented poor...

Population studies on pain prevalence are useful in determining the impact that chronic pain has on the society. It draws the attention of healthcare...

This is an update to the previously published paper by Boudville et al1 on 8 years of intussusception (IS) surveillance in Singapore. IS is...

In medicine, measures that save the most lives and improved the quality of life of millions have largely been public health measures that in...

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a potentially fatal disease which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). About 30% of patients with VTE...

Singapore has a comprehensive National Childhood Immunisation Programme (NCIP) which first covered smallpox (1862), followed by diphtheria (1938), tuberculosis (TB) (1957), poliomyelitis (1958), pertussis...

Influenza A (H1N1-2009) is a novel strain of influenza virus. The infection is thought to have first occurred in Mexico in March 2009, and...

On 17 April 2009, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) determined that febrile respiratory illness occurring in 2 children residing in adjacent counties...

The first cases of infection with a novel influenza A (H1N1) strain were reported in 6 cases in California and 2 cases in Texas...

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in different communities.1,2 Despite the lack of accurate data,...

Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) are well known pathogens that cause a variety of human illnesses. They are non-enveloped, linear double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) viruses. More...

Several reviews and meta-analyses have established an association between unemployment and psychological distress. This relationship between unemployment and mental health is complex and likely...

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...

Overweight and obesity continue to be one of the most critical public health issues worldwide. Body mass index (BMI) derived from height and weight...

Ophthalmic cancers are commonly encountered in clinical practice and are an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Globally, the incidence of ophthalmic cancers have...

The COVID-19 pandemic first broke out in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, where a cluster of pneumonia cases was reported and the novel coronavirus...

Singapore confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on 23 January 2020 in a Chinese national from Wuhan, and its first paediatric case on February...

Singapore reported its first imported case of COVID-19 on 23 January 20201 and its first COVID-19 deaths on 21 March 2020.2 The WHO declared...