Ann Acad Med Singap
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Nov 2023
Burden of antibiotic resistance in infections among very-low-birthweight infants in Singapore.
Recent reports have described the increasing predominance of Gram-negative organisms among invasive bacterial infections affecting preterm infants. This changing pattern of infections is concerning due to the spread of antibiotic resistance among Gram-negatives. ⋯ Gram-negative bacteria are the predominant causative organisms for EOI and LOI and are frequently MDR. Understanding the pattern of antimicrobial resistance is important in providing appropriate empiric coverage for neonatal infections.
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Oct 2023
Singapore's experience in managing the COVID-19 pandemic: Key lessons from the ground.
Singapore managed the COVID-19 pandemic in the past three years and gleaned valuable lessons on patient management when the public healthcare system was inundated with COVID-19 patients. There were several initiatives, which included setting up of community treatment facilities to help hospitals manage in-patient loads that did not require acute monitoring, leveraging telemedicine, and developing heuristics to sort patients based on their clinical disposition to various care pathways and to effectively manage patients of different medical needs. These initiatives were implemented in the second year of the epidemic in 2021 and did not include the dormitory-based migrant workers and migrant workers in the construction, maritime and production sectors who were under the care of the Assurance, Care and Engagement Group (ACE) in the Ministry of Manpower that had its own set of treatment management measures. ⋯ In 2022 alone, 23,159 patients were discharged from community treatment facilities against the background of 1.9 million COVID-19 patients. These initiatives would not be possible without the oversight of an advisory board comprising senior leadership from the healthcare clusters and the Ministry of Health to align clinical governance with medical policies, and prompt and immense support from medical specialist panels. The strong public-private partnership forged in the process was instrumental in the successful operation of community facilities and implementation of patient care protocols, coupled with harnessing information technology and leveraging on emerging data to refine care protocols.