INTRODUCTION: Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been available in Singapore since 2016, its uptake among gay, bisexual and other men-who-have-sex-with-men (GBMSM) is low. The iPARTY study was established to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of PrEP and a PrEP teleconsultation service for young GBMSM aged 18 to 29 years. METHOD: A total of 53 young GBMSM were enrolled in the iPARTY study. They had a total of 5 in-person consultations and teleconsultations, at 12-week intervals. Laboratory tests and quarterly baseline surveys were performed to assess PrEP adherence, sexual behaviour, and incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). RESULTS: Thirty-five participants completed the entire 12-month follow-up. Most participants had positive experiences with PrEP teleconsultations. There was a statistically significant fall in participants' aggregate Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores throughout the study. Self-reported PrEP adherence decreased over the course of the study, denoting improved mental health. Although self-reported condom use for anal intercourse and participants' risk perception of HIV decreased after PrEP adoption, there was no statisti-cally significant increase in STI incidence. CONCLUSION This pilot project has shown that PrEP services provide an opportunity for YMSM to access sexual health testing, treatment and counselling, and may even have tangible benefits on the mental health of this population. Teleconsultation is shown to be a suitable platform for the delivery of such services. Collaborative initiatives are crucial to further enhance the affordability and accessibility of PrEP in Singapore, and to improve patient adherence.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Humans ; Male ; Young Adult ; Anti-HIV Agents/administration & dosage* ; Feasibility Studies ; Health Risk Behaviors ; HIV Infections/psychology* ; Incidence ; Medication Adherence ; Mental Health/statistics & numerical data* ; Pilot Projects ; Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis/statistics & numerical data* ; Sexual and Gender Minorities/statistics & numerical data* ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases/prevention & control* ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Telemedicine/statistics & numerical data* ; Homosexuality, Male/statistics & numerical data*

COVID-19 ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; Retrospective Studies ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Transplant Recipients

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant challenges for the resuscitation of paediatric patients, especially for infants and children who are suspected or confirmed to be infected. Thus, the paediatric subcommittee of the Singapore Resuscitation and First Aid Council developed interim modifications to the current Singapore paediatric guidelines using extrapolated data from the available literature, local multidisciplinary expert consensus and institutional best practices. It is hoped that this it will provide a framework during the pandemic for improved outcomes in paediatric cardiac arrest patients in the local context, while taking into consideration the safety of all community first responders, medical frontline providers and healthcare workers.
Infant ; Child ; Humans ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/methods* ; COVID-19/therapy* ; Pandemics ; Singapore ; Heart Arrest

Humans ; Infant ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Vitamin D Deficiency/epidemiology*

Objective: To analyze the effects of twirling reinforcing and reducing manipulations on protein expres-sion in parietal cortex of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), and elucidate the main mechanisms and differences between two manipulations in hypertension treatment. Methods: Rats were randomly divided into the control, model, twirling reinforcing manipulation (TRFM), and twirling reducing manipulation (TRDM) groups. The control and model groups received catch and fixation stimulations once a day for 14 days. The TRFM and TRDM groups were intervened once a day for 20 min for 14 days. On days 0, 2, 6, 10, and 14 after acupuncture, rat systolic blood pressures (SBPs) were measured. Differential protein (DP) expression in the rat parietal cortices was detected. Thereafter, GO functional significance and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Results: Compared with the model group, SBP of rats in the TRDM and TRFM groups decreased on days 6 and 10 of acupuncture, respectively (P=.009; P<.001). Moreover, SBP of the TRDM group was signif-icantly lower than that of the TRFM group on days 10 and 14 of acupuncture (P = .015; P = .013). Compared with control group, 601 and 1040 DPs were up-and downregulated, respectively, in the model group. Compared with model group, 44 and 28 up-and downregulated DPs were expressed, respectively, in the TRFM group. Compared with model group, expression of 616 and 427 up-and downregulated DPs, respectively, was found in the TRDM group. After combining the results of GO and KEGG enrichment analyses, five and one pathways were found to be related to the central antihypertensive mechanism of the parietal cortex during twirling reducing and reinforcing manipulations, respectively. Conclusion: TRDM showed a more effective antihypertensive effect on SHRs than TRFM; this antihy-pertensive effect was related to the regulation of different proteins and their biological functions.

The cooking process may emit toxic compounds and airway irritants from both the fuel combustion and cooking fumes which is harmful to the respiratory health among the restaurant workers. A cross-sectional study of 243 restaurant workers from the selected restaurants in Sungai Long, Malaysia was conducted. The standardized British Medical Research Council questionnaire on Respiratory Symptoms (1986) was used during the interview to access the symptoms and the spirometry test was performed to evaluate the pulmonary functions of the participants. The data of socio-demography and occupational characteristics were also collected. The most complaint respiratory symptoms by the restaurant workers were breathlessness, which accounted for 33.7%, followed by wheezing (14%). The mean values of all pulmonary function tests (PFT) of the restaurant workers were within the normal range (>80%), except for the Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) (79.09%). The results of the bivariate statistical analysis, Chi-square, ANOVA and t-test, showed the determining factors of the respiratory health among the workers were workers’ age and gender in addition to the working duration and the ethnicity. The restaurant workers in Sungai Long were at risk of developing respiratory symptoms and lower pulmonary function values due to prolonged exposure to cooking fumes. Emphasis should be given to the safety and health of restaurant workers and health education should be provided to the restaurant workers and owners. Strategies to increase notification of such occurrences among these workers should be looked into by related agencies in the country.

Adult ; Antitubercular Agents ; therapeutic use ; Contact Tracing ; Counseling ; Female ; Humans ; Latent Tuberculosis ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Odds Ratio ; Pamphlets ; Practice Patterns, Nurses' ; Prospective Studies ; Singapore ; Smoking Cessation ; methods

Introduction: A recently published meta-analysis showed that each additional serving of rice increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) by an alarming 11%. We investigated whether this phenomenon is seen in the Malaysian population by studying the effect of rice intake and added sugar consumption on fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fasting triacylglycerol (TAG). Methods: Ninety subjects (60 females, 30 males, aged 30-70 years), adequate to detect a weak-to-moderate Pearson correlation of r=0.26 at a=0.05 and power= 0.80, were recruited by convenience sampling from six communities in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Fasting blood samples were collected by finger-prick and analysed for FPG (AccuCek, Roche) and TAG (Accutrend, Roche). Macronutrient intakes, including rice, were obtained by a single interview using a previously-evaluated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and quantitated as grams by the DietPLUS V2 programme. Added sugar intakes by subjects were estimated using an Added Sugar Intake excel programme. Results: Rice contributed to 85% of dietary carbohydrates, accounting for 41.8 % kcal of the average 1750- kcal diet. Rice intakes or added sugar consumption did not have a significant correlation (p>0.05) with FPG nor fasting TAG. Added sugar consumption, which averaged 44g/person/day (5% kcal) was markedly lower than the 137g/person/day reported elsewhere for the Malaysian population. Conclusion: High consumption of rice as a risk factor of type 2 DM was not indicated in the present study. Since white rice consumption varied 10-fold in the present subjects, the reduction in daily intake of this staple food represents a feasible option for cutting back on calorie intake for overweight or obese individuals.
Triglycerides