Exploring disaster preparedness in an obstetric unit in a district hospital in the Western Cape Province.

Background: Research on disaster preparedness in public hospitals is limited, and specialised units such as obstetric departments need to be even more prepared when rendering health care to vulnerable populations. Disasters can be natural, such as floods due to human interventions, sinkholes due to mining, or pandemic occurrences, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Research on disaster preparedness is limited, and even more so in specialised units such as obstetrics and evacuating a ward of maternal and neonatal patients present unique challenges.

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein is independently associated with early carotid artery progression in women but not in men: the INVADE Study.

Background And Purpose: High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is known to be associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events. Limited information exists regarding the importance of sex differences for the association between hsCRP and the progression of early stages of atherosclerosis. Therefore, we investigated the effect of hsCRP on early carotid atherosclerosis progression and major vascular risk factors in men and women.