Tuesday, April 29, 2008

We are open on Labour Day

Our clinic will be opened from 8.30am to 12.30pm this Labour Day.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Welcome Parkway Shenton Card Holders!

Our clinic now accepts Parkway Shenton Card Holders. We welcome you to the clinic and hope to be of service to you and your family.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) on the Rise

There has been a an increase in the number of HFMD cases this year so parents please be on the alert!

The Ministry of Health also reports that there is a higher circulation of the EV71 strain which is the strain of virus that caused the deaths of 2 young children in 2000/2001. The predominant strain is still the Coxsackie A16 virus which only causes a mild illness so the vast majority of children will make a full recovery.

HFMD is mild in most cases with the child developing fever, sore throat and red spots and blisters on the hands and feet and ulcers in the mouth. They just need to be isolated and most of them will recover fully. However in some rare instances, the illness can get very severe and affect the lungs, brain and heart.

The danger signs to look out for are:

- Drowsiness, disorientation, irritability and fits
- Severe Headache and neck stiffness
- Breathlessness or turning blue
- Dehydration

If you notice any of these signs, you must seek medical attention immediately.

More about what to do if your child has HFMD can be found in my previous post by clicking here

The MOH press release dated 8 Apr can be found here

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

New Season Flu Vaccination is Now Available!

We have just received our stock of Flu Vaccines.

This is the latest 2008 Southern Hemisphere strains.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Update on Dengue Fever

You have probably read in the news today an article about Dengue and also about the outbreak in Brazil. The article is actually talking about how we can be expecting an outbreak in around 3 years' time and how the government is preparing for it. So it is not a cause for panic although we should be still diligent about making sure that we do not allow mosquitoes to breed and also to be on a constant lookout for the symptoms that are consistent with Dengue.

According to NEA's dengue website, the number of cases we are seeing this year is around the same as this time last year and there is certainly no peak in the number of cases. In our clinic, we have not had any confirmed cases of Dengue recently.

There is also some good news ahead. The Straits Times reports that there will be a quick Dengue Test kit available to GP clinics in June. That will mean that it will be easier to detect Dengue earlier. Currently the available test kits can only detect Dengue after day 5 of the illness. The ability to detect Dengue fever earlier will mean that the NEA will be able to control the mosquito breeding grounds earlier to stem the spread of the illness.

Click here to read more on Dengue