NOTE FROM WEBMASTER

This Microbiology website for medical students, together with its notes and suggested answers to past-year questions, is created with the sole aim of providing a one-stop resource center for students to save them from the onerous task of having to read from various textbooks, and hopefully, to lighten their burden and relieve a bit of stress from an already packed and rigorous academic workload and perhaps more importantly, to inoculate in the subject a much needed humanistic dimension.

The notes are neatly type-written out and arranged in point form to make for easy reading and understanding. The factual information contained therein was collated, compiled and organized from various textbooks and internet resources as outlined clearly on this website's resource center. It is by no means an exhaustive list, and meticulous efforts have been devoted to check for any factual errors and inconsistencies, to root out rampant spelling errors present in the first manuscript and to ensure that its organization and overall structural framework follows as much as possible, strictly in accordance to the themes and objectives spelled out by the Faculty.

These notes are not meant to be mere summaries, for they are of a concise and detailed nature, thereby depriving the beginner a much needed basic introduction and elucidation on the subject matter. Another major drawback is the dearth of good quality illustrations and images which does little to facilitate a better and more complete  understanding of the etiological agents of infectious diseases, not forgetting the old adage that 'a picture speaks a thousand words'. This shortcoming, I hope, to rectify in the near future should time permits.

The Humanities of Microbiology contains articles written by doctors, patients and contemporary thinkers of the day to highlight the inherent human component and values in the study of the subject which is, more often than not, being eclipsed by its more illustrious scientific counterpart. In the face of the eradication and control of most major infectious diseases in the world today such as smallpox, tuberculosis, measles, diphtheria and whooping cough, AIDS has emerged as new scrooge for mankind which modern medicine is unable to effect neither a satisfactory cure or control. The AIDS epidemic has grown to become a global emergency, threatening the very existence of countries where the healthcare system can no longer halt the advance of a disease that continues to ensnare humanity while eluding medical science's futile attempts to combat it. AIDS is more than a medical problem; it is a social and political problem as well and unless we institute strong measures to stem its spread, we may be overwhelmed with a real humanitarian crisis in the near future.

Special thanks and appreciation must be extended to Prof Tan Tin Wee of the Bioinformatiacs Center for kindly allowing us to use the BIC server, Kian Soon, for imparting his web-programming skills to me, of which I've managed only to master a little, and to my CG mates for vetting the scripts for me. For any errors or defects that remain, I myself am fully responsible.

Joseph Ong

Publication Chapter

Medical Humanities Research Group,

National University of Singapore