Diagnostic Errors ; prevention & control ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; diagnosis ; World Health Organization

Singapore has a sophisticated healthcare system and is an important referral centre for Asia. Like much of the world, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is now endemic across its health system. MRSA infection has been associated with considerable attributable mortality, morbidity plus personal and public cost. Nosocomial infections are potentially preventable and need to be considered an unacceptable complication rather than a tolerable byproduct of healthcare. Failure to introduce long-term sustainable infection control initiatives is not an option for responsible clinical leaders and managers. Control of MRSA transmission in Singapore is achievable but we need to accept the challenge and acknowledge that it will take perhaps a decade. It requires implementation of many varied infection control measures to be rolled out sequentially and across all health services. Our ambition, in Singapore, should be for hospitals to achieve an inpatient prevalence of <1% MRSA colonised patients. Identified transmission of MRSA should be regarded as a serious breech. Successful control will require extraordinary collaboration, support, resources, accountability and consistency of effort. Currently, efforts are evolving significantly and today, we have a good opportunity to embark on this difficult journey. Implementing infection control initiatives successfully over the next few years will save lives in the future.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Disease Outbreaks ; prevention & control ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Infection Control ; methods ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Prevalence ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Staphylococcal Infections ; drug therapy ; epidemiology ; prevention & control

Asia ; Disease Outbreaks ; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola ; epidemiology ; Humans

Cholera ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Humans ; Zimbabwe ; epidemiology

Asia, Southeastern ; epidemiology ; Climate Change ; Communicable Disease Control ; organization & administration ; Communicable Diseases ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Female ; Forecasting ; Humans ; Male ; Time Factors

INTRODUCTIONTo assess the efficacy of screening stools sent for Clostridium difficile cytotoxin assay (CDTA) for surveillance of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE).

MATERIALS AND METHODSFrom April to May 2005, all stools submitted for CDTA were also cultured for VRE using vancomycin containing culture media. Isolates were identified to species level and vancomycin resistance confirmed, followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of vancomycin resistance genes and DNA fingerprinting. Over 2 consecutive days during that period, stool specimens or rectal swabs were also obtained from all patients in high-risk units (haematology, oncology, renal and intensive care). Fifty-one patients in each group were compared in terms of VRE risk factors previously identified.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe prevalence of VRE in both groups was similar [3/204 (1.5%) in the CDTA arm and 1/97 (1.0%) in the high-risk arm; P = 1.0, Fisher's exact test]. Prevalence of risk factors for VRE colonisation, including age, duration of hospitalisation, exposure to antibiotics, exposure to surgical procedures, presence of malignancy and diabetes mellitus was similar in both groups (P > 0.05). Only renal failure (P < 0.05) was more common in the high-risk group. All 4 isolates of VRE identified were genetically distinct by variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing; 3 were Enterococcus faecium (2 with the vanB gene, 1 with vanA) and one E. faecalis.

CONCLUSIONLess than 2% of our high-risk patients are VRE carriers. In-hospital VRE screening using stools sent for CDTA is a simple, reasonable surrogate for screening individual high-risk patients as the patient risk profile is similar and the yield comparable in a low-prevalence setting.

Adult ; Aged ; Clostridium difficile ; isolation & purification ; Cohort Studies ; Enterococcus faecalis ; drug effects ; Feces ; microbiology ; Female ; Health Care Surveys ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Middle Aged ; Singapore ; Vancomycin Resistance

Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola ; epidemiology ; Hospitals ; standards ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Patient Isolation ; organization & administration ; standards ; Patient Transfer ; organization & administration ; standards ; Simulation Training ; Singapore

Community associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) subtype USA300 remains relatively well confined within North American shores. Between August and November 2010, a large international school in Singapore recorded 27 skin and soft tissue infections, 8 of which were confirmed USA 300. This study reports the outbreak investigation and the interventions instituted.
Community-Acquired Infections ; Disease Outbreaks ; Humans ; Methicillin ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Singapore ; Staphylococcal Infections ; epidemiology ; Staphylococcal Skin Infections

INTRODUCTIONVancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have emerged as one of the major nosocomial antimicrobial-resistant pathogens globally. In this article, we describe the epidemiology of VRE in Singaporean public hospitals in the 5 years following the major local VRE outbreak in 2005.

MATERIALS AND METHODSA passive laboratory surveillance programme identified non-duplicate VRE isolates from 7 hospitals from 2006 to 2010. Descriptive statistics and time-series analysis was performed on all clinical VRE isolates for each individual hospital as well as for the combined dataset.

RESULTSThere were a total of 418 VRE isolates over 5 years, of which 102 isolates (24.4%) were from clinical cultures. Between 0.4% and 0.7% of all clinical enterococcal isolates were resistant to vancomycin. The overall incidence-density of VRE did not change over time in Singapore despite 2 separate outbreaks in tertiary hospitals in 2009 and 2010. Incidence-density of clinical VRE cases fell in 2 secondary hospitals, while another 2 hospitals experienced no significant VRE infections after 2008.

CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of VRE clinical isolates remains low in Singaporean public sector hospitals. However, the presence of at least 2 outbreaks in separate hospitals over the past 5 years indicates the need for continued vigilance in order to prevent any further increase in VRE prevalence locally.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Cross Infection ; epidemiology ; Enterococcus ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections ; drug therapy ; Hospitals, Public ; Humans ; Population Surveillance ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Vancomycin ; therapeutic use ; Vancomycin Resistance ; drug effects

Humans ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Education, Medical