Publications by authors named "I Y Y Cheung"

Objective: Influenza reemerged after a 2020-2021 hiatus in 2022, but understanding the resurgence needs pre-COVID era surveillance. We compared age- and ethnicity-specific incidence of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) from a hospital network in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2022 against a baseline, 2012-2019.

Methods: Annual and monthly influenza SARI incidence per 1000 persons by age and ethnic group between 2012 and 2022 was calculated using resident population as the denominator.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study utilized core genome single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) phylogeny to analyze a nosocomial outbreak of Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREf), correctly identifying most related isolates as part of the outbreak cluster.
  • Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was effective in classifying the majority of these isolates and distinguishing unrelated samples, demonstrating its potential as a rapid screening tool for outbreak investigations.
  • This is the inaugural research focusing on FT-IR spectroscopy's effectiveness in epidemiological analysis of VREf isolates sharing the same sequence type, marking a novel approach in microbiology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Forecasting models predicting trends in hospitalization rates have the potential to inform hospital management during seasonal epidemics of respiratory diseases and the associated surges caused by acute hospital admissions. Hospital bed requirements for elective surgery could be better planned if it were possible to foresee upcoming peaks in severe respiratory illness admissions. Forecasting models can also guide the use of intervention strategies to decrease the spread of respiratory pathogens and thus prevent local health system overload.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A 58-year-old male with good past health presented with headache and visual disturbance for 1 month. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed, showing a large aggressive midline mass with epicenter at the skull base and sellar-suprasellar region. There was marked heterogenous enhancement and intratumoral calcifications.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF