Possible Changes and Trends in Non-COVID-19 Vaccine-Prescribing Patterns before and during COVID-19 Pandemic.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many children missed their routine vaccinations globally. There is insufficient evidence on the trends in vaccination coverage in the private healthcare sector in South Africa. This study explored the changes in childhood vaccination patterns (non-COVID vaccines) in the private healthcare sector in South Africa using medicine claim data.

Adherence to the Guideline for Reporting Evidence-based practice Educational interventions and Teaching (GREET) of studies on evidence-based healthcare e-learning: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to assess reporting of evidence-based healthcare (EBHC) e-learning interventions using the Guideline for Reporting Evidence-based practice Educational interventions and Teaching (GREET) checklist and explore factors associated with compliant reporting.

Design: Methodological cross-sectional study.

Methods: Based on the criteria used in an earlier systematic review, we included studies comparing EBHC e-learning and any other form of EBHC training or no EBHC training.

Estimation of shedding time in laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa: a population-based record linkage study, March-December 2020.

Introduction: in South Africa, COVID-19 cases are notifiable and hospitalized cases are reported on a dedicated platform. It is crucial to estimate the duration of SARS-CoV-2 shedding to inform public health interventions. We aimed to estimate viral shedding time among laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa.

Severity and outcomes of Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 compared to Delta variant and severity of Omicron sublineages: a systematic review and metanalysis.

Objectives: To compare severity and clinical outcomes from Omicron as compared with the Delta variant and to compare outcomes between Omicron sublineages.

Methods: We searched the WHO COVID-19 Research database for studies that compared clinical outcomes for patients with Omicron variant and the Delta variant, and separately Omicron sublineages BA.1 and BA.

Evaluation of the rubella surveillance system in South Africa, 2016-2018: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Rubella is a leading vaccine-preventable cause of birth defects. We conducted this study to evaluate the rubella surveillance system in South Africa from 2016 to 2018. The rubella surveillance system had not been evaluated since its inception; therefore, a formal evaluation is necessary to assess key attributes and to ascertain the extent to which the system achieves its objectives.

Hepatitis A virus seroprevalence among children and adolescents in a high-burden HIV setting in urban South Africa.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is one of the most important global causes of viral hepatitis. Recent reviews suggested that HAV endemicity in South Africa could shift from high to intermediate. A hospital-based HAV seroprevalence study was conducted between February 2018 and December 2019 in Pretoria, South Africa.

A retrospective 5-year review of rubella in South Africa prior to the introduction of a rubella-containing vaccine.

South Africa has yet to introduce a rubella-containing vaccine (RCV) into its Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI). Here we evaluated the incidence of laboratory-confirmed rubella and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) cases over the years 2015 to 2019, to document the epidemiology of rubella and CRS within South Africa prior to a RCV introduction. This retrospective study evaluated the number of laboratory-confirmed rubella cases reported through the national febrile rash surveillance system.

Government regulation of private health insurance.

Background: The strain on public resources to meet the healthcare needs of populations through publicly-provided health insurance programmes is increasing and many governments turn to private health insurance (PHI) to ease the pressure on government budgets. With the goal of improving access to basic health care for citizens through PHI programmes, several high-income countries have developed strong regulations for PHI schemes. Low- and middle-income countries have the opportunity to learn from this experience to optimise PHI.

Variation in SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks across sub-Saharan Africa.

A surprising feature of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to date is the low burdens reported in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries relative to other global regions. Potential explanations (for example, warmer environments, younger populations) have yet to be framed within a comprehensive analysis. We synthesized factors hypothesized to drive the pace and burden of this pandemic in SSA during the period from 25 February to 20 December 2020, encompassing demographic, comorbidity, climatic, healthcare capacity, intervention efforts and human mobility dimensions.

The Impact of Rubella Vaccine Introduction on Rubella Infection and Congenital Rubella Syndrome: A Systematic Review of Mathematical Modelling Studies.

Introduction: Rubella vaccines have been used to prevent rubella and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) in several World Health Organization (WHO) regions. Mathematical modelling studies have simulated introduction of rubella-containing vaccines (RCVs), and their results have been used to inform rubella introduction strategies in several countries. This systematic review aimed to synthesize the evidence from mathematical models regarding the impact of introducing RCVs.

Rubella Vaccine Introduction in the South African Public Vaccination Schedule: Mathematical Modelling for Decision Making.

: age structured mathematical models have been used to evaluate the impact of rubella-containing vaccine (RCV) introduction into existing measles vaccination programs in several countries. South Africa has a well-established measles vaccination program and is considering RCV introduction. This study aimed to provide a comparison of different scenarios and their relative costs within the context of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) reduction or elimination.

Epidemiology of laboratory-confirmed mumps infections in South Africa, 2012-2017: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Data on the burden of mumps in South Africa are limited and the epidemiology of mumps in this setting is not well understood. We present an analysis of mumps data in South Africa from 2012 to 2017.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included secondary data on laboratory-confirmed mumps infections from 2012 to 2017, archived at the South African National Health Laboratory Services' data repository as well as from four private laboratories.

Factors associated with mortality in children under five years old hospitalized for Severe Acute Malnutrition in Limpopo province, South Africa, 2014-2018: A cross-sectional analytic study.

Background: In South Africa, 30.9% of children under five years with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) died in 2018. We aimed to identify factors associated with mortality among children under five years hospitalized with SAM in Limpopo province, South Africa.

Hepatitis A virus seroprevalence in South Africa - Estimates using routine laboratory data, 2005-2015.

Introduction: South Africa is considered highly endemic for hepatitis A virus (HAV) although few seroprevalence studies have been conducted over the past two decades. The World Health Organization recommends integrating HAV vaccination into national childhood immunization schedules where there is transition from high to intermediate endemicity. As a means of gauging age-specific rates of infection, we report HAV seroprevalence rates among specimens tested for HAV serology within South Africa's public health sector from 2005-2015.

Hepatitis B sero-prevalence in children under 15 years of age in South Africa using residual samples from community-based febrile rash surveillance.

Introduction And Methods: Hepatitis B is a vaccine preventable disease and is notifiable in South Africa. Hepatitis B vaccination was incorporated into the Expanded Programme on Immunisation in South Africa in 1995. We used a convenience sample from community-based febrile rash surveillance in 2013 to estimate hepatitis B sero-prevalence.

Congenital Rubella Syndrome Surveillance in South Africa Using a Sentinel Site Approach: A Cross-sectional Study.

Background: Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) includes disorders associated with intrauterine rubella infection. Incidence of CRS is higher in countries with no rubella-containing vaccines (RCV) in their immunization schedules. In the World Health Organization African region, RCVs are being introduced as part of the 2012-2020 global measles and rubella strategic plan.

Treatment interventions for diarrhoea in HIV-infected and HIV-exposed children: a systematic review.

Introduction: Seventy percent of an estimated 10 million children less than five years of age in developing countries die each year of acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, measles, malaria, malnutrition or a combination of these conditions. Children living with Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at risk of diarrhoea because of drug interactions with antiretroviral therapy and bottle feeding. This may be aggravated by malnutrition and other infectious diseases which are frequent in children living with HIV.

A comparative evaluation of PDQ-Evidence.

Background: A strategy for minimising the time and obstacles to accessing systematic reviews of health system evidence is to collect them in a freely available database and make them easy to find through a simple 'Google-style' search interface. PDQ-Evidence was developed in this way. The objective of this study was to compare PDQ-Evidence to six other databases, namely Cochrane Library, EVIPNet VHL, Google Scholar, Health Systems Evidence, PubMed and Trip.

Equity issues were not fully addressed in Cochrane human immunodeficiency virus systematic reviews.

Objective: To describe and summarize equity reporting in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) systematic reviews and explore the extent to which equity issues are addressed and reported in HIV reviews using the PROGRESS Plus framework.

Study Design And Setting: Application of the PROGRESS Plus framework to a bibliometric analysis of HIV reviews in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Results: The analysis included 103 reviews published as of March 2014, with a median of five studies per review (first quartile; Q1 = 2; third quartile; Q3 = 11).

Critical EPICOT items were absent in Cochrane human immunodeficiency virus systematic reviews: a bibliometric analysis.

Objectives: To summarize the current gaps in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) research evidence, describe the adequacy of reporting "implications for research," and map the number of studies that inform reviews with the prevalence of HIV for each country.

Study Design And Setting: A bibliometric analyses of HIV reviews in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews with content analysis of the "implications for research" section.

Results: We analyzed 103 high-quality reviews published as of March 2014.