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Kudos to the team at SGH. How the Singapore River helped save a life from an antibiotic-resistant infection (https://www.sgh.com.sg/news/patient-care/how-the-singapore-river-helped-save-a-life-from-an-antibiotic-resistant-infection) Refractory infections – those that do not respond to conventional treatments like antibiotics – can lead to a slew of issues, including increased morbidity and mortality, fewer treatment options and compromised medical procedures. But a treatment popularised in the early 20th century before the advent of antibiotics might provide an answer to treating such infections. A patient at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) was the first in Southeast Asia to have benefited from this century-old treatment as she no longer had other standard of care options. Known as phage therapy, it is a special treatment that uses viruses called bacteriophages (or phages) to fight bacteria. Phages are like little soldiers. When they find a bad bacterium, they infiltrate it and “hijack the bacterial machinery”, replicating themselves within the cell walls. Eventually, the bacterium bursts open and dies in a process known as lysis. Phages are highly specific, targeting only the harmful bacteria they are programmed to eliminate and leaving other bacteria alone. This makes them highly efficient at eradicating bacteria that is difficult to clear. Dr Jasmine Chung, Senior Consultant, Department of Infectious Diseases, SGH, said, “In tackling refractory infections, phage therapy has emerged as a promising alternative. Particularly for patients who have exhausted all conventional treatments when trying to combat difficult-to-treat infections. This could be due to superbugs, or bacteria which are well shielded in biofilm (tissue) that often grows on implanted or indwelling medical devices, making it difficult for antibiotics to reach them.” Ms A, in her 30s, had undergone a complex heart surgery due to a pre-existing health condition in January 2024. Unfortunately, she developed a serious infection in her chest cavity and blood. The culprit bacteria was Pseudomonas aeurginosa, a common organism known to cause serious infections. This infection was difficult to treat and eradicate, causing recurrent blood infections in Ms A. She had to be placed on a prolonged course of intravenous antibiotics and was hospitalised for a significant period of time. Coupled with her pre-existing condition which requires lifelong cardiac care and her complex surgical history, she had two bleak choices – undergo an extremely risky surgery to try to root out the infection or remain on intravenous antibiotics for the indeterminate future. Phage therapy, which the team had developed, when used in combination with antibiotics, served as a promising alternative treatment strategy, with a better patient outcome. Phages exist everywhere – in bodies of water, soil, even on humans and animals. As they are host-specific, it is necessary to find phages that could precisely target the pseudomonas strains that infected Ms A. The team got started on this hunt, working to match the bacteria against their library of over 100 catalogued phages and searching for more in the environment. After the bacteria are cultured, phage screening (using phage spot test) was performed. When there is a successful match between phage and bacterium, the phage is extracted for propagation and DNA sequencing to confirm that it is suitable and effective. Associate Professor Andrea Kwa, Deputy Director, Pharmacy (Research & Innovation), SGH, said, “We isolate and identify the specific phages that target the patient’s unique bacterial strains. For the patient, we developed a cocktail of three phages that could work synergistically with the antibiotics she was put on to increase the latter’s potency and fight the infection. This prevents further emergence of bacterial resistance and ensures thorough eradication of the culprit bacteria.” One of the three phages was obtained from the Singapore River. The phage screen, test and production of the safe phage formulation took the team about five months. The treatment was administered intravenously, and the two-week course treated the infection effectively. Because of phage therapy, Ms A avoided the need for high-risk surgery and was able to move from intravenous to oral antibiotics, which indicates significant improvement in the patient’s condition. Because of this, she finally had her long-term vascular access catheter (a silicone tube placed in her vein) removed as antibiotic administration was no longer required. Her need for hospital visits was greatly reduced, and there was vast improvement in quality of life. She was also able to travel overseas with her young family. While not new, phage therapy is an emerging field and is considered experimental in most countries. In Singapore, as in other countries where this therapy has been administered, the team had to seek approval from the relevant health authorities including the clinical ethics committee, as well as informed consent from the patient in order to proceed. This thorough process ensures patient safety remains paramount, even as we push the boundaries and explore novel treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections. Since then, the team has also administered phage therapy to two other patients.

TL;DR – A passenger uploaded a screenshot of a lewd conversation between herself and an illegal hitch driver on social media. Want to save a few dollars on your next Private Hire ride? There are always unofficial alternatives that you can find via Telegram groups like the one below. Note: I don’t personally use this at all. A friend decided to add me, and I was too lazy to leave the group. Just this one group has over 197,000+ members! But be warned! If you decide to take this route, you might meet some unsavoury characters who do not operate under any corporate entity. Here’s a perfect example If the image above is too texty, and you get dizzy from too many words, here’s a quick summary of the image post on Singapore Private Hire Car Drivers & Riders Community FB page. A hitch driver texts his passenger to confirm the pick-up details along with his ETA The driver then informs the passenger that he’s barely clothed Reason being that he (the driver) would give a free ride if his passenger allowed him to get fully naked and touch himself while driving Yeah. That was my face when I read the whole conversation. Some due diligence in order Obviously, in this day and age, you’ve got to take what you see online with a pinch of salt. So, I decided to search for this car on OneMotoring. But no such vehicle exists! Still an intriguing story though. But obviously, netizens didn’t bother fact-checking. The comments section exploded. Let’s read some! Online Chatter HE SIMPLY MISTOOK GRAB CAR with GRAB THE BALLS. That’s hilarious! The person who said, “I will sit quietly behind n close my eyes because free of charge” got a serious problem la. ========= Be the first to get the latest road/ COE news and get first dibs on exclusive promos and giveaways in our Telegram SGCM Community. Join us today!

Viral: Son praises SGH staff for helping his elderly father who was stranded on overhead bridge for 3 hours. https://coconuts.co/singapore/news/viral-son-praises-sgh-staff-helping-elderly-father-stranded-overhead-bridge-3-hours/ If i encounter such situation, i will just call police/hospital n wait till they come to help the old man but this lady and the old man daughters take the risk of moving him down the bridge, really salute her heart of gold and of course the man's filial daughters too ...

SINGAPORE: One of the perimeter walls of a 127-year-old obsolete lunatic asylum has been discovered in the compound of the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), at the side of a hill near Macalister Road. The National Heritage Board (NHB) said on Monday (Nov 17) that it was alerted to the discovery of the New Lunatic Asylum by Mr Charles Goh - co-founder of the Asian Paranormal Investigators - in September. The New Lunatic Asylum was built in 1887 and had 300 beds for 250 male patients and 50 female patients. Singapore's third psychiatric hospital was constructed on cottage principles comprising a series of detached buildings, and offered both accommodation as well as work facilities. The NHB leveraged on Google Glass technology to document the remaining wall of the New Lunatic Asylum. The public can watch the documentary from Tuesday on NHB’s YouTube channel. The NHB said it will be working closely with SGH to assess the condition of the remaining perimeter wall and jointly explore potential preservation and commemorative efforts to showcase the heritage of the site. -TODAY/kk http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/discovered-in-sgh/1477254.html first we discovered old reservoir and now we discovered an old hospital!!