Another Day in Duncan
Five years ago, I wrote a blog called "A Day in Duncan". It was a snapshot of the critically ill patients I encountered during a typical day in the hospital. read it here If you revisit that post, you'll notice that many of those patients were battling non-communicable diseases, while the major infections were tuberculosis and HIV. The rest were a mix of drug-related complications (such as steroid dependence leading to hyponatraemia), trauma, and a few immunological disorders. Fast forward to a recent "Day at Duncan". Among roughly 50 patients admitted in the wards, more than 20 were critically ill. What stands out is that the disease landscape continues to evolve. We are seeing unusual infections more often, the familiar HIV and TB pairing but with increasingly complex complications, rising addictions, attempted suicides, growing mental health concerns, all layered on top of the ever-present burden of non-communicable diseases. Diseases, it seems, are becom...