CLINICAL MATTERS Within hours after his inauguration for a second term, US President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders aimed at reshaping the international policies of the United States. Included among these policy shifts were the withdrawal of the US from the World Health...
CLINICAL MATTERS Alexandria is a city in northern Egypt on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the second largest city in Egypt and is the largest city on the coast of the Mediterranean. It is named after Alexander the Great, who founded the city in 330 BC. Alexandria, with its port...
CLINICAL MATTERS A lesser-known virus or bacteria causes an outbreak somewhere in the world and is reported on the news. People think that another terrible pandemic is upon us and the fake news on social media goes into overdrive, causing widespread panic. This scenario is unfortunately...
CLINICAL MATTERS Having made it to Aswan after a grueling 14-hour road trip through the Egyptian Desert, we settled down for the night in our cabins on board the Nile cruise ship the Queen of Sheba. The ship was docked for two nights in Aswan and was scheduled to sail the day after to Kom...
CLINICAL MATTERS In Paulo Coelho’s book The Alchemist , the main character goes on a spiritual journey from Andalusia in Spain to Morocco and finally to Egypt to find a great treasure. I won’t spoil the ending if you haven’t read it, but in an unexpected twist, he did find what he was...
CLINICAL MATTERS As a doctor, I usually continue working through Christmas and the holidays unless we go out of town for vacation. This year, my last clinic day was Friday, Dec. 20 but I continued to work up to Dec. 25 since I still had patients in the hospital on which I needed to round....
CLINICAL MATTERS Even as the Covid-19 pandemic seems like a distant memory, those of us who see patients daily in the hospital are constantly reminded of how things can change in an instant. A few days ago, a patient with cancer was admitted to our hospital complaining of shortness of...
CLINICAL MATTERS Almost every December, I am the adult infectious diseases supervising consultant assigned to the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at the Philippine General Hospital. I personally prefer doing charity MICU instead of the ward service because it means that I can concentrate on...
CLINICAL MATTERS The Christmas season in December also coincides with the start of the flu season in the Philippines. As the Amihan wind brings cooler temperatures, people tend to spend more time indoors and in close proximity to one another. This makes respiratory viruses much easier to transmit,...
CLINICAL MATTERS There have been recent news reports of a strain of bird flu that is infecting cows in the US. But the most unusual aspect of this specific outbreak is that some humans may have been infected with this strain of avian influenza from drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk from an infected...
CLINICAL MATTERS With the explosion of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in everyday life, many people fear it is just a matter of time before AI takes over every single job that humans currently do. Already there are AI actors, composers, singers, and artists. Call centers are increasingly...
CLINICAL MATTERS As I write this column, it is becoming increasingly clear that former US President Donald Trump will win a second term of office. This is not entirely unexpected due to the economic issues that are preoccupying most American voters. It is disappointing how vicious the rhetoric has...
