Perception of the public towards the mentally ill in developed Asian country

Objective This study assessed public perceptions and attitudes towards and causal beliefs about mental health problems in Singapore – a multi-racial country in South-East Asia. Method A nation-wide survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted on those aged between 15 and 69 years. Results The overall response rate was 68.1% with a total of 2,632 respondents. About 38.3% (95% CI, 36.4–40.2) believed that people with mental health problems were dangerous and 49.6% (95% CI, 47.7–51.5) felt that the public should be protected from them. A negative attitude towards mental health problems correlated with greater age and less education. The Chinese were more likely to want to hide their illness should they become mentally unwell while the Malays seemed to have a more tolerant attitude (P = 0.032). Conclusion Public awareness and anti-stigma campaigns should focus on those commonly held misconceptions and target specific populations.     

Longitudinal assessment of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific immune responses in liver transplant recipients at high risk for late CMV disease

Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-seronegative recipients (R(-)) of a liver transplant from CMV-positive donors (D(+)) are at high risk for developing late CMV disease after discontinuation of antiviral prophylaxis. Levels of viremia and CMV-specific interferon (IFN)- gamma -producing CD4(+) and IFN- gamma -producing CD8(+) T cell responses were prospectively measured from discontinuation of antiviral prophylaxis until 1 year after transplantation in 17 consecutive D(+)/R(-) patients. CMV loads of >1000 copies/mL were strongly associated with CMV disease in the 6 symptomatic patients. Despite immunosuppression, broadly diverse T cells specific for CMV lysate or peptide libraries spanning pp65 and immediate early (IE) 1 immunodominant CMV antigens developed in all patients. A vigorous CD8(+) T cell response to pp65 and IE1 antigens characterized the D(+)/R(-) cohort. Unexpectedly, none of these responses were predictive of CMV disease or viremia. No significant lymphopenia or functional impairment of CMV-specific T cells was detected in the symptomatic patients, whose morbidity was resolved after antiviral treatment while measurable CMV immunity was maintained during the 1-year observation period.