The common cold is the commonest reason for primary care encounters worldwide. This paper aims to describe the reasons that influence patients to seek medical consultation for the common cold. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted among adult patients of an urban teaching primary care clinic. An adapted bilingual survey form was administered by the researchers to obtain data regarding their decision to seek medical consultation for a cold and the reasons for their decision. Quantitative analyses were done to describe the close-ended responses. Open-ended responses were analysed using a qualitative approach and the frequencies of the themes were reported. Results: A total of 320 respondents participated in this study, with a response rate of 91.4%. They were predominantly females (59.4%), Malay (70.9%), and had tertiary education (65.9%). More than half of the patients (52.5%) said they would seek consultation for cold symptoms. Fever was the commonest symptom (57-61%) which compelled them to seek consultation. The commonest reason for seeking consultation was to get medications (41.7%), whereas the commonest reason not to seek consultation was the practice of self-medication (44.2%). Ethnicity was found to be significantly associated with the decision to seek doctor’s consultation. Conclusion: Colds are usually self-limiting and do not result in complications. Empowering patients by providing appropriate self-care knowledge can help to reduce the burden of primary care services. Patients should be taught about red flag symptoms as well as drug safety for medications commonly taken for colds.

Pruritus is a lesser known symptom of hyperthyroidism, particularly in autoimmune thyroid disorders. This is a case report of a 27-year-old woman who presented with generalised pruritus at a primary care clinic. Incidental findings of tachycardia and a goiter led to the investigations of her thyroid status. The thyroid function test revealed elevated serum free T4 and suppressed thyroid stimulating hormone levels. The anti-thyroid antibodies were positive. She was diagnosed with Graves’ disease and treated with carbimazole until her symptoms subsided. Graves’ disease should be considered as an underlying cause for patients presenting with pruritus. A thorough history and complete physical examination are crucial in making an accurate diagnosis. Underlying causes must be determined before treating the symptoms.
Pruritus ; Graves Disease ; hyperthyroidism ; Primary Health Care

A 7-year-old boy with a diagnosis of advanced medulloblastoma refractory to treatment was discharged from hospital for further palliative care at home. During this short and eventful period, the child developed spinal cord compression with progressive weakness of upper and lower limbs, neck pain, faecal and urinary incontinence. This case highlights the important roles of a primary care doctor in the provision of palliative care for a child in the community.

The Hypoglycaemia Symptom Rating Questionnaire (HypoSRQ) is potentially useful for local research on hypoglycaemia. However, it requires adaptation and validation in local settings. This study reports the process and results of cross-cultural adaptation and linguistic validation of HypoSRQ for Malay and English versions in our local setting. The HypoSRQ underwent forward and backward translation and adaptation with support from professional translators and a clinical psychologist. Cognitive debriefing was done among patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus from varying sociodemographic backgrounds. Discussion was done together with the original developers of the HypoSRQ to decide on the best version for local use. The finalised versions were proofread and formatted with the help of Health Psychology Research. Cognitive debriefing for Malay version involved 7 patients and for the English version5 patients. Direct literal translation into Malay language was unsuitable due to technical terms which were difficult for laypersons to understand. Amendments were made based on findings from the cognitive debriefing process. Participants found the questionnaire fairly easy to understand. The HypoSRQ-My (Malay) and HypoSRQ-EMy (English) is easily understood by local participants. These tools may undergo psychometric evaluation for future use in local settings.
Diabetes Mellitus ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The present study aimed to determine the factors associated with CKD stage 3b among type 2 diabetics attending primary care follow-up, specifically the role of angiotensin blockade dosage. This was a pilot unmatched case-control study conducted in a teaching primary care centre. Clinical data of 25 cases of diabetic patients with CKD stage 3b (GFR 30-45ml/min/1.73m2) in 2012 were selected for this study, as well as 103 controls who were diabetic patients with GFR more than 45ml/min/1.73m2 in 2012. Systematic random sampling was employed. Data was obtained from patients’ diabetic records, computerised clinical medical information system and medical case notes. Univariate analysis was done using Chi-square, t-test, Fisher’s exact test and Mann-Whitney U-test. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the associated factors for development of CKD stage 3b. Cases and controls were different in terms of age, duration of diabetes, use and dosage of angiotensin blockade medications, systolic blood pressure and baseline GFR. Multiple logistic regression revealed that systolic blood pressure (Adjusted OR= 1.08, 95% CI= 1.02-1.14, p=0.013) and baseline GFR (Adjusted OR= 0.90, 95% CI= 0.85-0.95, p<0.001) was significantly associated with the development of CKD stage 3b among diabetics. Maximizing the dose of angiotensin blockade had a protective effect (Adjusted OR= 0.14, 95% CI=0.85-0.95, p=0.025). The results of the present study supports the need for good control of systolic blood pressure among diabetic patients to reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease progression. Dose of angiotensin blockade medications should be optimised in these patients.

INTRODUCTIONA paradigm shift appears to have occurred worldwide in surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism with the advent of sensitive preoperative imaging techniques. Preoperative imaging for parathyroid adenoma localisation was not found to be useful in a study conducted in Singapore in the 1990s. This study aimed to explore what the change has been in preoperative localisation tools compared to the previous study and if the ability of these tools to correctly localise pathologic parathyroid glands has improved.

MATERIALS AND METHODSA retrospective review of patients who had surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism at our institution during the period 2005 to 2014 was carried out. Individuals with positive, as opposed to those with negative preoperative imaging, were compared with regard to whether they underwent limited focal or bilateral neck exploration. Length of hospital stay (LOHS) was also compared between patients who underwent limited versus bilateral exploration.

RESULTSFifty-eight patients who had preoperative imaging and surgery were evaluated. True positive rates of sestamibi, ultrasound and 4-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) scans were 63.8%, 72.4% and 90%, respectively. Eighty percent of patients who had positive localisation had limited exploration. LOHS was 2.8 days (1.6, 4.8) and 4.3 days (2.1, 9.0) for limited and bilateral exploration respectively, P = 0.011.

CONCLUSIONOur study highlights the marked change in the surgical landscape for primary hyperparathyroidism in the last 2 decades in Singapore. Improved preoperative localisation has resulted in a swing from predominantly bilateral, to limited exploration in almost all cases of primary hyperparathyroidism due to solitary adenoma. LOHS was significantly shorter in patients who had limited as compared to those who had bilateral exploration.

Adenoma ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Four-Dimensional Computed Tomography ; Humans ; Hyperparathyroidism, Primary ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Length of Stay ; Parathyroid Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Parathyroidectomy ; Practice Patterns, Physicians' ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Radiopharmaceuticals ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Singapore ; Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi ; Ultrasonography

Stirred culture offers a number of advantages over static systems as it maintains a stable, homogeneous culture environment and is easy to scale-up. This paper focused on the development and application of stirred tank bioreactor to culture hematopoietic cells. Preliminary study of stirred culture of hematopoietic cells was carried out in cord blood mononuclear cells culture in spinner flask. The results showed that the amplification rates of total cell, CFU-GM and BFU-E, with the exception of CFU-Mk, were greater in spinner flask than T-flask. The number of total cells increased 20 fold after 14 days incubation in spinner flask. The amplification rates of CFU-GM, CFU-Mk and BFU-E reached maximum at 10th day, 10th day and 7th day respectively, and the maximal amplification rates were 9.2-fold, 5.5-fold and 2.4-fold respectively, whereas the rate of CD34+ cells in spinner flask was (6.7 +/- 4.0)-fold at day 10. These results indicated that the stirred culture system is better than the static culture systems for hematopoietic cell proliferation. The biocompatibility of cord blood MNC to different types of materials used in bioreactors was also tested. The results showed that glass, stainless steel 316L and polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE) supported the growth of hematopoietic cells well. A higher cell density was reached in stirred bioreactors with controlled pH and DO than static culture. These findings suggested that the controlled large-scale culture could be used to overcome the clinical shortage of hematopoietic cells.
Antigens, CD34 ; metabolism ; Bioreactors ; Cell Culture Techniques ; instrumentation ; methods ; Erythroid Precursor Cells ; cytology ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Progenitor Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Polytetrafluoroethylene ; Stainless Steel

To optimize the culture environment and protocol of hematopoietic cells' expansion, avoiding the fluctuation caused by medium changing in stirred culture and concentration gradient in static culture, the hematopoietic cells from cord blood (CB) were cultured in a stirred bioreactor connected with a cell retention system, which is a gravity sedimentation settler designed for hematopoietic cell. Total cells expanded 11.5 and 18.6 fold respectively in the twice perfusion stirred cultures, in which CFU-Mix was expanded 23.2 and 20.4 fold, CFU-GM 13.9 fold and 21.5 fold, BFU-E 8.0 fold and 6.9 fold, CD34+ cells 17.1 fold and 15.4 fold. After 12-day culture, it was obtained that 1082 x 10(6) total cells, 6.31 x 10(6) CFU-GM, 6.2 x 10(6) CFU-Mix and 23 x 10(6) CD34+ cells from 267 x 10(6) CB mononuclear cells (MNC) in the first culture, and 1080 x 10(6) total cells, 4.65 x 10(6) CFU-GM, 11.0 x 10(6) CFU-Mix, and 25.0 x 10(6) CD34+ cells from 180 x 10(6) CB MNC. These two cultures met to the clinical scale. Due to the optimized dissolved oxygen (DO) and stable culture environment, the rate of stem/progenitor cells to total cells in the perfusion culture was higher than that in T-flask cell-retention feeding culture. But the cell growth was inhibited in the later phase of perfusion culture, when the cell density is high. The inhibition should be attribute to the high cell density itself. The perfusion culture environment in bioreactor with optimal DO and pH controlling is more favorable for stem/progenitor cells' maintenance and expansion, and the expanded cells' number has reached a clinical scale. But the high cell density in the later phase of perfusion culture caused inhibition to mature hematopoietic cell's growth.
Bioreactors ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Cells, Cultured ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Humans

Child ; Humans ; Singapore ; Neoplasms/therapy* ; Medicine

Betacoronavirus ; Communicable Disease Control ; organization & administration ; Coronavirus Infections ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; transmission ; Disaster Planning ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Nuclear Medicine ; organization & administration ; Pandemics ; prevention & control ; Pneumonia, Viral ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; transmission ; Singapore