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Chitchat TB Cluster in a single HDB black - Cabinet, any comments?
- Thread starter scroobal
- Start date
I am surprised that no PAP MP or ministars have shown up to share their empathy. Maybe they are running scared of contracting TB.
Kiasi and kiasu are the hallmarks of our ministars.
They must be responsible MPs mah! If spread to Pinky in the Imperial Court and then to the royal familee how? Who wanna take responsibility?
Time to re-introduce the Mantoux Test & BCG(bacille Calmette-Guerin) vaccination in Primary schools all over again because SINKIES have lost the herd immunity with the flood of cheap FTs (TB carriers) from 3rd world countries all over the world.
Residents in SG like to cough without covering their mouths in the HDB lifts, air-con re circulated air in buses, mrt trains, cinemas, shopping malls etc make it easy for the TB to spread. In this age of AB drug resistant strains, the only protection is vacinnation.
Residents in SG like to cough without covering their mouths in the HDB lifts, air-con re circulated air in buses, mrt trains, cinemas, shopping malls etc make it easy for the TB to spread. In this age of AB drug resistant strains, the only protection is vacinnation.
Yet another Shocker - TB Cluster found by fluke
Can you imagine if this doctor who happens to work in TB control Unit did not realise its the same block number. I am actually shocked as it shows that they have no systems to detect clusters or proximity of cases. If this doctor did not remember the block numbers it would gone on for another 4 years and one wonders how many more would have been infected.
http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/doctor-astute-spot-tb-pattern-says-mpDoctor 'astute' to spot TB pattern, says MP
Residents of Block 203, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 receiving a free screening for tuberculosis.
Photo: The New Paper
IT WAS in October last year that the red flags were raised.
Cynthia Chee, a senior consultant at Tan Tock Seng Hospital's TB Control Unit, and her team realised that a patient diagnosed that month lived in a block of flats where several other people had been diagnosed before with the same strain of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
When another case surfaced last month, she knew it was time to act.
"The significance was not clear to us at that time," said Dr Chee about that discovery in October last year.
"Then another case surfaced, and I just felt that it was something that MOH should know about."
After more digging, it came to light that altogether six people in Block 203, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 had fallen prey to that particular strain of bacteria over a four-year period.
How this happened is still puzzling doctors, as the patients came from four different households. Aside from three who were from the same household, the patients said that they did not know or interact with one another.
The TB bacteria typically requires close contact over a long period of time to spread.
6 tuberculosis cases found in Ang Mo Kio
Photo Source: The Straits Times, The New Paper
1 of 13
Koh Poh Koon, an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC and a medical doctor himself, told reporters yesterday that Dr Chee was "very astute" to have noticed the pattern.
"All of us see many patients on a daily basis, and the amazing thing is how she connected six patients over a four-year period," he said.
Doctors were able to ascertain the cases were linked, as the DNA fingerprints of TB cases in Singapore are recorded.
If the strains of two people match up - as they did in the Ang Mo Kio case - then it is likely that they have been in close contact.
DNA fingerprinting makes it easier to track the spread of TB than the traditional method of contact tracing, or asking an infected person who he has been in contact with.
"It's very, very challenging," Dr Chee said. "People don't want to tell us about where they have been because there is a fear of stigmatisation from family or friends. Some are afraid they will lose their jobs."
The Health Ministry is currently providing free screening for residents of the affected block as a precautionary measure, in order to pick up any undiagnosed TB cases.
As of 5pm yesterday, about 70 residents and former residents of Block 203 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 had been screened on-site for TB. They will get their screening results within two weeks, said the ministry in a statement.
[email protected]
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/doctor-astute-spot-tb-pattern-says-mp#sthash.WaB4z1Bm.dpuf
Can you imagine if this doctor who happens to work in TB control Unit did not realise its the same block number. I am actually shocked as it shows that they have no systems to detect clusters or proximity of cases. If this doctor did not remember the block numbers it would gone on for another 4 years and one wonders how many more would have been infected.
http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/doctor-astute-spot-tb-pattern-says-mpDoctor 'astute' to spot TB pattern, says MP
Residents of Block 203, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 receiving a free screening for tuberculosis.
Photo: The New Paper
IT WAS in October last year that the red flags were raised.
Cynthia Chee, a senior consultant at Tan Tock Seng Hospital's TB Control Unit, and her team realised that a patient diagnosed that month lived in a block of flats where several other people had been diagnosed before with the same strain of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
When another case surfaced last month, she knew it was time to act.
"The significance was not clear to us at that time," said Dr Chee about that discovery in October last year.
"Then another case surfaced, and I just felt that it was something that MOH should know about."
After more digging, it came to light that altogether six people in Block 203, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 had fallen prey to that particular strain of bacteria over a four-year period.
How this happened is still puzzling doctors, as the patients came from four different households. Aside from three who were from the same household, the patients said that they did not know or interact with one another.
The TB bacteria typically requires close contact over a long period of time to spread.
6 tuberculosis cases found in Ang Mo Kio
Photo Source: The Straits Times, The New Paper
1 of 13
Koh Poh Koon, an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC and a medical doctor himself, told reporters yesterday that Dr Chee was "very astute" to have noticed the pattern.
"All of us see many patients on a daily basis, and the amazing thing is how she connected six patients over a four-year period," he said.
Doctors were able to ascertain the cases were linked, as the DNA fingerprints of TB cases in Singapore are recorded.
If the strains of two people match up - as they did in the Ang Mo Kio case - then it is likely that they have been in close contact.
DNA fingerprinting makes it easier to track the spread of TB than the traditional method of contact tracing, or asking an infected person who he has been in contact with.
"It's very, very challenging," Dr Chee said. "People don't want to tell us about where they have been because there is a fear of stigmatisation from family or friends. Some are afraid they will lose their jobs."
The Health Ministry is currently providing free screening for residents of the affected block as a precautionary measure, in order to pick up any undiagnosed TB cases.
As of 5pm yesterday, about 70 residents and former residents of Block 203 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 had been screened on-site for TB. They will get their screening results within two weeks, said the ministry in a statement.
[email protected]
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/doctor-astute-spot-tb-pattern-says-mp#sthash.WaB4z1Bm.dpuf
Re: Yet another Shocker - TB Cluster found by fluke
http://www.todayonline.com/singapor...ect-dots-praised-her-astute-observationDoctor who helped connect dots praised for her ‘astute observation’
When a hospital staff member noticed that some of their multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients came from three different units of the same block in Ang Mo Kio, Dr Cynthia Chee’s suspicions were aroused. Photo: Ministry of Health
BY
SIAU MING EN
[email protected]ISHED: 4:00 AM, JUNE 17, 2016UPDATED: 5:08 AM, JUNE 17, 2016
SINGAPORE — When a hospital staff member noticed that some of their multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients came from three different units of the same block in Ang Mo Kio, Dr Cynthia Chee’s suspicions were aroused, even though she “didn’t know quite how to interpret it” then.
“I was wondering, could this be some kind of major coincidence? It was something very, very unusual, unprecedented,” said Dr Chee, the senior consultant at Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s (TTSH) Tuberculosis Control Unit, where she has practised for 20 years.
Dr Chee was commended yesterday by Dr Koh Poh Koon, Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC, for her “astute observation” in connecting six patients with similar residential addresses over a four-year period.
Dr Chee said: “At that time, we were trying to look for any social, or otherwise, places of interaction or intersection for these people who lived in this block (Block 203), but we were unable to find them.”
Tuberculosis typically requires close and prolonged contact with an infectious individual — which is why those who are screened for the disease are usually the individual’s family members, flat-mates, close workplace colleagues and acquaintances from common social activities.
By the time the sixth and most recent MDR-TB case was diagnosed last month, Dr Chee said her team was already on “high alert” to check whether the latest case came from the same Housing and Development Board block.
When it was confirmed that the latest patient came from a fourth unit in that block, she made the decision to alert the authorities about the unprecedented situation.
Dr Chee’s team sees fewer than 10 MDR-TB cases a year, all of which are handled by the Tuberculosis Control Unit.
In the Ang Mo Kio case, the first patient in the cluster was diagnosed in February 2012, and another member of his household was diagnosed with the disease in May that year.
A third member of the household was initially diagnosed with latent TB, but did not develop active MDR-TB until October last year.
Meanwhile, the other three people living in the same block were diagnosed in April 2014, October last year, and last month. Among them, only one lived on the same floor as the three cases from the same household.
Even when a patient from a second unit in that block was diagnosed with MDR-TB in April 2014, alarm bells did not go off.
“That is not conventionally how we look at cases spreading ... (it is) not how we do contact screening. We would screen according to what we know, from the index (patient), who he has been spending time with and interacting with,” she said.
However, even the routine screening of contacts of TB patients — usually done within a few days after diagnosis — can be quite a sensitive and challenging task, noted Dr Chee.
“Many of our patients actually do not want to reveal where they have been, who they have been in contact with for fear of stigmatisation and ostracisation. That actually is very challenging for us to find their contacts,” she said.
http://www.todayonline.com/singapor...ect-dots-praised-her-astute-observationDoctor who helped connect dots praised for her ‘astute observation’
When a hospital staff member noticed that some of their multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients came from three different units of the same block in Ang Mo Kio, Dr Cynthia Chee’s suspicions were aroused. Photo: Ministry of Health
BY
SIAU MING EN
[email protected]ISHED: 4:00 AM, JUNE 17, 2016UPDATED: 5:08 AM, JUNE 17, 2016
SINGAPORE — When a hospital staff member noticed that some of their multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients came from three different units of the same block in Ang Mo Kio, Dr Cynthia Chee’s suspicions were aroused, even though she “didn’t know quite how to interpret it” then.
“I was wondering, could this be some kind of major coincidence? It was something very, very unusual, unprecedented,” said Dr Chee, the senior consultant at Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s (TTSH) Tuberculosis Control Unit, where she has practised for 20 years.
Dr Chee was commended yesterday by Dr Koh Poh Koon, Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC, for her “astute observation” in connecting six patients with similar residential addresses over a four-year period.
Dr Chee said: “At that time, we were trying to look for any social, or otherwise, places of interaction or intersection for these people who lived in this block (Block 203), but we were unable to find them.”
Tuberculosis typically requires close and prolonged contact with an infectious individual — which is why those who are screened for the disease are usually the individual’s family members, flat-mates, close workplace colleagues and acquaintances from common social activities.
By the time the sixth and most recent MDR-TB case was diagnosed last month, Dr Chee said her team was already on “high alert” to check whether the latest case came from the same Housing and Development Board block.
When it was confirmed that the latest patient came from a fourth unit in that block, she made the decision to alert the authorities about the unprecedented situation.
Dr Chee’s team sees fewer than 10 MDR-TB cases a year, all of which are handled by the Tuberculosis Control Unit.
In the Ang Mo Kio case, the first patient in the cluster was diagnosed in February 2012, and another member of his household was diagnosed with the disease in May that year.
A third member of the household was initially diagnosed with latent TB, but did not develop active MDR-TB until October last year.
Meanwhile, the other three people living in the same block were diagnosed in April 2014, October last year, and last month. Among them, only one lived on the same floor as the three cases from the same household.
Even when a patient from a second unit in that block was diagnosed with MDR-TB in April 2014, alarm bells did not go off.
“That is not conventionally how we look at cases spreading ... (it is) not how we do contact screening. We would screen according to what we know, from the index (patient), who he has been spending time with and interacting with,” she said.
However, even the routine screening of contacts of TB patients — usually done within a few days after diagnosis — can be quite a sensitive and challenging task, noted Dr Chee.
“Many of our patients actually do not want to reveal where they have been, who they have been in contact with for fear of stigmatisation and ostracisation. That actually is very challenging for us to find their contacts,” she said.
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Re: Yet another Shocker - TB Cluster found by fluke
Yes, using Excel and 30 min programming will throw out an alert once a predetermined threshold is met. After the second press article praising the doctor for discovering the link I am astounded.
Yes, using Excel and 30 min programming will throw out an alert once a predetermined threshold is met. After the second press article praising the doctor for discovering the link I am astounded.
Re: Yet another Shocker - TB Cluster found by fluke
If the address is in the opposition held territories.....you can bet sure....the CEO of all the hospitals & every medical units here will be INFORMED..only in AMK..it is a fluke discovery...
If the address is in the opposition held territories.....you can bet sure....the CEO of all the hospitals & every medical units here will be INFORMED..only in AMK..it is a fluke discovery...
Re: Yet another Shocker - TB Cluster found by fluke
Sadly you are right.
Sadly you are right.
If the address is in the opposition held territories.....you can bet sure....the CEO of all the hospitals & every medical units here will be INFORMED..only in AMK..it is a fluke discovery...
Re: Yet another Shocker - TB Cluster found by fluke
The fact that Dr Anal Koh can give a press comments to praise this doctor without even realising the implications tells me that the entire cabinet cannot bothered. If Old Man was at post, this lot would have strips torn from their backs.
Dr Anal is with MTI and MND and not even with MOH.
The fact that Dr Anal Koh can give a press comments to praise this doctor without even realising the implications tells me that the entire cabinet cannot bothered. If Old Man was at post, this lot would have strips torn from their backs.
Dr Anal is with MTI and MND and not even with MOH.
Re: Yet another Shocker - TB Cluster found by fluke
too bad they found outbreak so soon..............if only 6000 had been infected............
too bad they found outbreak so soon..............if only 6000 had been infected............
Re: Yet another Shocker - TB Cluster found by fluke
It is pretty obvious....yo don't need to be a rocket scientist to know what they do....
It is pretty obvious....yo don't need to be a rocket scientist to know what they do....
Re: Pinkie's voters kena retribution
No....no cure....what are the race of the TB clusters??
No....no cure....what are the race of the TB clusters??
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