SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) belongs to the beta-coronavirus family, which include: the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Since its outbreak in South Africa in March 2020, it has lead to high mortality and thousands of people contracting the virus. Mathematical analysis of a model without controls was done and the basic reproduction number of the COVID-19 for the South African pandemic determined. Permissible controls were introduced and an optimal control problem using the Pontraygain Maximum Principle is formulated. Numerical findings suggest that joint implementation of effective mask usage, physical distancing and active screening and testing, are effective measures to curtail the spread of the disease in the human population. The results obtained in this paper are of public health importance in the control and management of the spread for the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in South Africa.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2022.e01268 | DOI Listing |
Int Urogynecol J
January 2025
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Introduction And Hypothesis: Evidence on health system challenges mostly relate to high-income countries. Lack of context-specific knowledge, educational opportunities, and access to resources among pelvic health care providers could be barriers to effective implementation of pelvic health services in South Africa. The aim of this study was to determine the patient and therapist profile, and the educational and resource needs of pelvic health physiotherapists in South Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychol Rep
January 2025
School of Psychology, Faculty of Society and Design, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.
There has been a recent surge in schizotypy and metacognition research. Metacognition is an umbrella term for higher-order thought processes. Here, we focussed on maladaptive metacognitive beliefs, which are beliefs related to one's thought processes and often play an important role in the preponderance of psychological disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Microbiol
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Plant detritus is abundant in grasslands but decomposes slowly and is relatively nutrient-poor, whereas animal carcasses are labile and nutrient-rich. Recent studies have demonstrated that labile nutrients from carcasses can significantly alter the long-term soil microbial function at an ecosystem scale. However, there is a paucity of knowledge on the functional and structural response and temporal scale of soil microbiomes beneath large herbivore carcasses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHum Vaccin Immunother
December 2025
Division of Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, England, UK.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a leading cause of congenital infections and significant health complications in immunocompromised individuals. With no licensed CMV vaccine available, the development of the mRNA-1647 offers promising advancements in CMV prevention. We have reviewed results from Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of the mRNA-1647 vaccine, demonstrating robust immune responses in both seronegative and seropositive participants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGut Pathog
January 2025
Diarrheal Pathogens Research Unit (DPRU), Department of Virology, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Ga-rankuwa, Pretoria, South Africa.
Bacterial flagellin, a potent intestinal innate immune activator, prevents murine rotavirus (RV) infection independent of adaptive immunity and interferons. The flagellin-induced immunity is mediated by Toll-like receptor (TLR5) and Nod-like receptor C4 (NLRC4), which elicit the production of interleukins 22 (IL-22) and IL-18, respectively. Here, we assessed whether a high abundance of flagellin at the time of vaccination would negatively affect the oral RV vaccine take.
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