Meeting report: South African Medical Research Council Standard of Care in Clinical Research in Low- And Middle-Income Settings Summit, November 2017.

A cornerstone of HIV prevention clinical trials is providing a combination prevention package to all trial participants. The elements included in that standard of care (SoC) package evolve as new prevention modalities are developed. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was recommended by the World Health Organization for persons at high risk of acquiring HIV, but not all countries immediately adopted those recommendations.

A decade of rotavirus vaccination in Africa - Saving lives and changing the face of diarrhoeal diseases: Report of the 12 African Rotavirus Symposium.

The African Rotavirus Network organised the 12 African Rotavirus Symposium (ARS) from 30 July to 1 August 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The symposium theme "A decade of rotavirus vaccination in Africa - Saving lives and changing the face of diarrhoeal diseases", included sessions aimed at sharing ideas and expertise on prevention and control of diarrhoeal disease in Africa. Inter alia, the delegates reviewed global and regional epidemiological trends on rotavirus diarrhoea, progress and experiences on rotavirus vaccine introduction, including vaccine safety monitoring and impact in Africa, scientific advances in developing newer rotavirus vaccines, surveillance and research on other diarrhoeal pathogens, and providing an enabling environment for networking.

The ethics of data sharing and biobanking in health research.

The importance of data sharing and biobanking are increasingly being recognised in global health research. Such practices are perceived to have the potential to promote science by maximising the utility of data and samples. However, they also raise ethical challenges which can be exacerbated by existing disparities in power, infrastructure and capacity.

Mapping the tuberculosis scientific landscape among BRICS countries: a bibliometric and network analysis.

Background: The five BRICS (Brazil, Russian, Indian, China, and South Africa) countries bear 49% of the world's tuberculosis (TB) burden and they are committed to ending tuberculosis.

Objectives: The aim of this paper is to map the scientific landscape related to TB research in BRICS countries.

Methods: Were combined bibliometrics and social network analysis techniques to map the scientific publications related to TB produced by the BRICS.

Screening of selected ethnomedicinal plants from South Africa for larvicidal activity against the mosquito Anopheles arabiensis.

Background: This study was initiated to establish whether any South African ethnomedicinal plants (indigenous or exotic), that have been reported to be used traditionally to repel or kill mosquitoes, exhibit effective mosquito larvicidal properties.

Methods: Extracts of a selection of plant taxa sourced in South Africa were tested for larvicidal properties in an applicable assay. Thirty 3rd instar Anopheles arabiensis larvae were exposed to various extract types (dichloromethane, dichloromethane/methanol) (1:1), methanol and purified water) of each species investigated.

Screening for adulticidal bioactivity of South African plants against Anopheles arabiensis.

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate whether a selection of South African ethnomedicinal plants included in this study displayed insecticidal properties when screened against adult stages of the mosquito.

Methods: 381 crude extracts of 80 plant taxa in 42 families were sprayed onto ceramic tiles and screened using the cone bio-assay method for insecticide efficacy testing. Blood-fed, female Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes were exposed to the treated tiles for a period of sixty minutes.

Evaluation of selected South African ethnomedicinal plants as mosquito repellents against the Anopheles arabiensis mosquito in a rodent model.

Background: This study was initiated to establish whether any South African ethnomedicinal plants (indigenous or exotic), that have been reported to be used traditionally to repel or kill mosquitoes, exhibit effective mosquito repellent properties.

Methods: Extracts of a selection of South African taxa were tested for repellency properties in an applicable mosquito feeding-probing assay using unfed female Anopheles arabiensis.

Results: Although a water extract of the roots of Chenopodium opulifolium was found to be 97% as effective as DEET after 2 mins, time lag studies revealed a substantial reduction in efficacy (to 30%) within two hours.

Antidiabetic screening and scoring of 11 plants traditionally used in South Africa.

Aim: To investigate the traditional antidiabetic uses of indigenous or naturalised South African plants using an optimised screening and scoring method.

Materials And Methods: Eleven plant species were screened against Chang liver, 3T3-L1 adipose and C2C12 muscle cells measuring glucose utilisation in all three cell lines and toxicity in the hepatocytes and adipocytes only. A scoring system was devised to aid interpretation of results.

In vitro antiplasmodial activity of medicinal plants native to or naturalised in South Africa.

The increasing prevalence and distribution of malaria has been attributed to a number of factors, one of them being the emergence and spread of drug resistant parasites. Efforts are now being directed towards the discovery and development of new chemically diverse antimalarial agents. The present study reports on the in vitro antiplasmodial activity of 134 plant taxa native to or naturalised in South Africa, representing 54 families, which were selected semi-quantitatively using weighted criteria.

The South African National Non-Natural Mortality Surveillance System--rationale, pilot results and evaluation.

Background: While individual mortuaries have recorded data for non-natural deaths in time-limited studies, there have been no systematic efforts to draw forensic-medical services and state mortuaries into a nationwide fatal injury surveillance system. Beginning in June 1998, the National Non-Natural Mortality Surveillance System (NMSS) commenced pilot operation.

Objective: To evaluate the NMSS and illustrate its utility from sample findings.

The geographical distribution of diagnostic medical and dental X-ray services in South Africa.

AIM: The aim of this study was threefold, viz.: (i) to evaluate the availability and accessiblity of medical and dental X-ray services in South Africa; (ii) to evaluate geographical information systems (GIS) as a tool for management of health care technologies; and (iii) to guide policy and develop a process to provide optimal utilisation of X-ray services in South Africa. METHODS: Information supplied by the Department of Health on licensed X-ray equipment was integrated with census data and processed with GIS.