The economic impacts of marine plastic debris in South Africa: A preliminary estimate.

Marine plastic debris can affect the delivery of ecosystem services and cause direct damage to affected industries; with resulting impacts on the economy. This paper applies a version of the benefits transfer method to provide a preliminary estimate of the economic impacts of marine plastic in South Africa, in terms of impacts on ecosystem services, direct damage to industry, and clean-up costs. The total economic impact associated with the plastic reaching South Africa's marine environment each year ranges between R3.

Addressing plastic pollution and waste flows: Insights from South Africa's experience.

The Pew Charitable Trust's 2020 report 'Breaking the Plastic Wave', indicates that existing technologies could support an 80% reduction in plastic leakage relative to business as usual by 2040. Therefore, South Africa became the first country to work with the Pew Charitable Trust and Oxford University to test and apply 'Pathways', a modelling framework and software tool which stemmed and evolved from the Pew report, at country level. The tool calculates the flows of plastics in the economy and the impact of various strategies to reduce future plastic pollution.

Integrating molecular and radiological screening tools during community-based active case-finding for tuberculosis and COVID-19 in southern Africa.

Objectives: To evaluate diagnostic yield and feasibility of integrating testing for TB and COVID-19 using molecular and radiological screening tools during community-based active case-finding (ACF).

Methods: Community-based participants with presumed TB and/or COVID-19 were recruited using a mobile clinic. Participants underwent simultaneous point-of-care (POC) testing for TB (sputum; Xpert Ultra) and COVID-19 (nasopharyngeal swabs; Xpert SARS-CoV-2).

SARS-CoV-2 Viral Replication Persists in the Human Lung for Several Weeks after Symptom Onset.

In the upper respiratory tract, replicating (culturable) severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is recoverable for ∼4-8 days after symptom onset, but there is a paucity of data about the frequency and duration of replicating virus in the lower respiratory tract (i.e., the human lung).

Proteomic Profiling of Urine From Hospitalized Patients With Severe Pneumonia due to SARS-CoV-2 vs Other Causes: A Preliminary Report.

The pathogenesis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia remains poorly understood. The urine proteome of hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia, compared with severe non-COVID-19 pneumonia controls, was distinct and associated with lower abundance of several host proteins. Protein-specific machine learning analysis outlined biomarker combinations able to differentiate COVID-19 pneumonia from non-COVID-19 pneumonia controls.

Intensive Care Unit Sluice Room Sinks as Reservoirs and Sources of Potential Transmission of Carbapenem-Resistant Bacteria in a South African Tertiary Care Hospital.

Purpose: Carbapenem-resistant bacteria (CRB) pose a major health risk to patients in intensive care units (ICU) across African hospitals. There are hardly any data about the role of hospital sinks as reservoirs of CRB in resource-poor African settings. Furthermore, the specific within-sink location of the highest concentration of pathogens and the role of splash back as a transmission mechanism remains poorly clarified.

Efficacy of primary series AZD1222 (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: Final analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 1b/2 study in South African adults (COV005).

COVID-19 vaccine efficacy (VE) has been observed to vary against antigenically distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoC). Here we report the final analysis of VE and safety from COV005: a phase 1b/2, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of primary series AZD1222 (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) vaccination in South African adults aged 18-65 years. South Africa's first, second, and third waves of SARS-CoV-2 infections were respectively driven by the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 virus (wild type, WT), and SARS-CoV-2 Beta and Delta VoCs.

Outcomes of patients undergoing lung resection for drug-resistant TB and the prognostic significance of pre-operative positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in predicting treatment failure.

Background: Surgery remains an adjunctive treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) treatment failure despite the use of bedaquiline. However, there are few data about the role of surgery when combined with newer drugs. There are no outcome data from TB endemic countries, and the prognostic significance of pre-operative PET-CT remains unknown.

Durability of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine and hybrid humoral immunity against variants including omicron BA.1 and BA.4 6 months after vaccination (COV005): a post-hoc analysis of a randomised, phase 1b-2a trial.

Background: COVID-19 vaccine rollout is lagging in Africa, where there has been a high rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aimed to evaluate the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection before vaccination with the ChAdOx-nCoV19 (AZD1222) vaccine on antibody responses through to 180 days.

Methods: We did an unmasked post-hoc immunogenicity analysis after the first and second doses of AZD1222 in a randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 1b-2a study done in seven locations in South Africa.

A Critical Analysis of Indigenous Systems and Practices of Solid Waste Management in Rural Communities: The Case of Maseru in Lesotho.

The aims of this study were to understand and to do a critical analysis of the different indigenous systems and practices of waste management to inform waste management policy development in Lesotho. To achieve these aims, the objective was to assess community perceptions of the impact of the indigenous systems and practices of solid waste management on the environment and human wellbeing. A simple random sampling method was employed.

An All-Oral 6-Month Regimen for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial (the NExT Study).

Improving treatment outcomes while reducing drug toxicity and shortening the treatment duration to ∼6 months remains an aspirational goal for the treatment of multidrug-resistant/rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB). To conduct a multicenter randomized controlled trial in adults with MDR/RR-TB (i.e.

Waste Disposal Practices in Low-Income Settlements of South Africa.

Domestic solid waste is rapidly increasing due to accelerated population growth and urbanization. Improper waste disposal poses potential health risks and environmental concerns. Here, we investigated waste disposal practices in relation to household/dwelling characteristics in South African low-income communities.

Methodology to Investigate Indigenous Solid Waste Systems and Practices in the Rural Areas Surrounding Maseru (Kingdom of Lesotho).

Solid waste management (SWM) is the greatest challenge facing environmental protection and human wellbeing in the rural communities of Maseru (Kingsom of Lesotho). A lack of formal waste management (WM) systems in rural areas of Maseru have resulted in different indigenous systems and practices of SWM. Direct observation and descriptive designs will be employed.

Pretomanid with bedaquiline and linezolid for drug-resistant TB: a comparison of prospective cohorts.

There are no data comparing the 6-9 month oral three-drug Nix regimen (bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid [BPaL]) to conventional regimens containing bedaquiline (B, BDQ) and linezolid (L, LZD). Six-month post end-of-treatment outcomes were compared between Nix-TB ( = 109) and 102 prospectively recruited extensively drug-resistant TB patients who received an ˜18-month BDQ-based regimen (median of 8 drugs). A subset of patients received BDQ and LZD ( = 86), and a subgroup of these ( = 75) served as individually matched controls in a pairwise comparison to determine differences in regimen efficacy.

Efficacy of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.351 Variant.

Background: Assessment of the safety and efficacy of vaccines against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in different populations is essential, as is investigation of the efficacy of the vaccines against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including the B.1.351 (501Y.

An Optimal Diagnostic Strategy for Tuberculosis in Hospitalized HIV-Infected Patients Using GeneXpert MTB/RIF and Alere Determine TB LAM Ag.

The diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in HIV-infected patients is challenging. Both a urinary lipoarabinomannan (LAM) test (Alere TB LAM) and GeneXpert-MTB/RIF (Xpert) are useful for the diagnosis of TB. However, how to optimally integrate Xpert and LAM tests into clinical practice algorithms remain unclear.

Alone But Supported: A Qualitative Study of an HIV Self-testing App in an Observational Cohort Study in South Africa.

HIV self-testing has the potential to improve test access and uptake, but concerns remain regarding counselling and support during and after HIV self-testing. We investigated an oral HIV self-testing strategy together with a mobile phone/tablet application to see if and how it provided counselling and support, and how it might impact test access. This ethnographic study was nested within an ongoing observational cohort study in Cape Town, South Africa.

An autologous dendritic cell vaccine polarizes a Th-1 response which is tumoricidal to patient-derived breast cancer cells.

Breast cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-associated death worldwide. Conventional treatment is associated with substantial toxicity and suboptimal efficacy. We, therefore, developed and evaluated the in vitro efficacy of an autologous dendritic cell (DC) vaccine to treat breast cancer.

Long-term bedaquiline-related treatment outcomes in patients with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis from South Africa.

Optimal treatment regimens for patients with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) remain unclear. Long-term prospective outcome data comparing XDR-TB regimens with and without bedaquiline from an endemic setting are lacking.We prospectively followed-up 272 South African patients (49.