INFECTIOUS diseases doctors have sounded the alarm on the overuse of antibiotics in Singapore, which has led to a growing number of patients being hit with potentially lethal superbugs.
Despite more stringent measures by hospitals to control infections, high numbers of patients are still coming down with serious infections like methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Doctors are also seeing an increase in a relatively rare infection, known as acinetobacter baumannii, which strikes the critically ill. Seven out of every 10 patients who have been infected with this have died, according to a local study done at one hospital in 2006.
Read Jessica Jaganathan's full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
