A programme of support for care assistants of children admitted with cerebral palsy.

Background: Cerebral palsy affects children's movement and posture because of damage to the brain's development. Care assistants in healthcare facilities provide care to children. Caring for the children is overwhelming, hence support is required.

Machine Learning to Predict Interim Response in Pediatric Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma Using Affordable Blood Tests.

Purpose: Response assessment of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) with positron emission tomography-computerized tomography (PET-CT) is standard of care in well-resourced settings but unavailable in most African countries. We aimed to investigate correlations between changes in PET-CT findings at interim analysis with changes in blood test results in pediatric patients with cHL in 17 South African centers.

Methods: Changes in ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), albumin, total white cell count (TWC), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), and absolute eosinophil count were compared with PET-CT Deauville scores (DS) after two cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine in 84 pediatric patients with cHL.

Generation of Customized Bone Implants from CT Scans Using FEA and AM.

Additive manufacturing (AM) allows the creation of customized designs for various medical devices, such as implants, casts, and splints. Amongst other AM technologies, fused filament fabrication (FFF) facilitates the production of intricate geometries that are often unattainable through conventional methods like subtractive manufacturing. This study aimed to develop a methodology for substituting a pathological talus bone with a personalized one created using additive manufacturing.

Chronic pain: The prevalence of chronic pain in patients attending Soshanguve Community Health Centre.

Introduction: Chronic pain is a costly and incapacitating condition, with a projected global prevalence of 20%. In South Africa, almost one in five adults experience chronic pain. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of chronic pain and the association between chronic pain intensity and the interference of pain with life domains in patients attending a primary health care center.

Rapid-onset diarrhoea in HIV patient: The importance of suspecting cholera in non-endemic areas.

Unlabelled: Cholera, a severe diarrhoeal disease caused by is typically associated with inadequate potable water supply and poor sanitation. We report cholera disease presentation identified as a suspected case of acute diarrhoea (HIV/AIDS common condition) in a person living with HIV seen in a cholera non-endemic area.

Contribution: We highlight the importance of recognizing cholera in cases of acute diarrhoea, especially among people with HIV, in resource-constraint areas that lack potable water supply.

Navigating Mental Health: Community Members' Insights into Social Support and Inclusion in Matsafeni Village in Mbombela, Mpumalanga Province-A Qualitative Study.

Mental health illnesses are increasingly prevalent worldwide, and South Africa is no exception. The research investigates the vital significance of social support in enhancing the welfare of individuals dealing with mental disorders. An essential aspect involves comprehending the interplay of emotional and practical supports provided by both families and the larger community.

Change in Sexual and Reproductive Health Knowledge among Young Women Using the Conversational Agent "Nthabi" in Lesotho: A Clinical Trial.

Background: Young women worldwide face problems like unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Providing sexual and reproductive health education to this population remains a priority. It is unknown if using digital health interventions to deliver health education in human resource-constrained settings is effective.

Exploring Mental Health Awareness: A Study on Knowledge and Perceptions of Mental Health Disorders among Residents of Matsafeni Village, Mbombela, Mpumalanga Province.

The global rise in mental health disorders has significant social, economic, and physical impacts. Despite advancements in support, cultural beliefs attributing mental illnesses to spiritual causes persist, fostering discrimination and stigmatization. The study aims to explore the understanding and perceptions of mental health in Matsafeni Village, acknowledging the complexity of mental health issues.

Adaptation of the Gabby conversational agent system to improve the sexual and reproductive health of young women in Lesotho.

Introduction: Young women from the low-middle-income country of Lesotho in southern Africa frequently report limited knowledge regarding sexual and reproductive health issues and engage in risky sexual behaviors. The purpose of this study is to describe the adaptation of an evidence-based conversational agent system for implementation in Lesotho and provide qualitative data pertaining to the success of the said adaptation.

Methods: An embodied conversational agent system used to provide preconception health advice in the United States was clinically and culturally adapted for use in the rural country of Lesotho in southern Africa.

Improved survival of children and adolescents with classical Hodgkin lymphoma treated on a harmonised protocol in South Africa.

Background: Historic South African 5-year overall survival (OS) rates for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) from 2000 to 2010 were 46% and 84% for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive and HIV-negative children, respectively. We investigated whether a harmonised treatment protocol using risk stratification and response-adapted therapy could increase the OS of childhood and adolescent HL.

Methods: Seventeen units prospectively enrolled patients less than 18 years, newly diagnosed with classical HL onto a risk-stratified, response-adapted treatment protocol from July 2016 to December 2022.

Errors in clinical diagnosis: a narrative review.

Diagnostic errors are often caused by cognitive biases and sometimes by other cognitive errors, which are driven by factors specific to clinicians, patients, diseases, and health care systems. An experienced clinician diagnoses routine cases intuitively, effortlessly, and automatically through non-analytic reasoning and uses deliberate, cognitively effortful analytic reasoning to diagnose atypical or complicated clinical cases. However, diagnostic errors can never be completely avoided.

Strategies to enhance sexual health education for prevention of teenage pregnancy in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province: different stakeholder's perspectives, a co-operative Inquiry qualitative protocol paper.

Background: South Africa is reporting higher rates of adolescent pregnancy as compared to other countries. There are different types of interventions that are in place to address teenage pregnancy. However, these interventions were developed using top-down strategy without the inclusion of different stakeholders and adolescents which makes it hard to implement those interventions particularly in countries like South Africa.

Immunologic and vascular biomarkers of mortality in critical COVID-19 in a South African cohort.

Introduction: Biomarkers predicting mortality among critical Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients provide insight into the underlying pathophysiology of fatal disease and assist with triaging of cases in overburdened settings. However, data describing these biomarkers in Sub-Saharan African populations are sparse.

Methods: We collected serum samples and corresponding clinical data from 87 patients with critical COVID-19 on day 1 of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medical practitioners' knowledge and awareness of multiple myeloma at public hospitals, Gauteng, South Africa.

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy associated with morbidity and mortality worldwide, and most patients are referred for specialist care very late with complications. The low index of suspicion among medical practitioners is among the reasons for the delay in MM diagnosis and management. This study aimed to determine the level of awareness and knowledge of MM among medical practitioners working in public hospitals of Tshwane Municipality, Gauteng Province, South Africa.

'Response of a South African university physiotherapy curriculum to contemporary national health needs and decolonialization priorities: rationale, content and lessons learnt'.

Background: The undergraduate physiotherapy program at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, aims to respond to global and national health needs across levels of care, with a focus on primary care. Ideally, contemporary health professionals' education focuses on a holistic approach that extends beyond addressing a patient's medical diagnosis. In South Africa, however, this approach also needs to address the country's colonial past by emphasizing decolonialization and social justice.

SACCSG HL-2018. Barriers and enablers of a harmonized treatment protocol for childhood and adolescent Hodgkin lymphoma in South Africa.

Collaborative studies have contributed to improved survival of pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma in well-resourced settings, but few are documented in resource-constrained countries. The South Africa Children's Cancer Study Group initiated harmonization of management protocols in 2015. This article analyzes barriers and enablers of the process.

Effect of tenofovir containing ART on renal function in patients with moderate/severe reduced creatinine clearance at baseline: A retrospective study at two referral hospitals in Namibia.

Prescription of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) for patients with baseline creatinine clearances (CrCl) <60 mL/min is said to increase risk of further decline in CrCl. Study objectives were to assess incidence of improvement and predictors thereof; to assess incidence of decline and transition to lower stages of CrCl; and comparison of declines between patients with a baseline CrCl < 60mL/min (group-I) and ≥ 60 mL/min (group-II). The study was retrospective, included patients 16 yrs or older who received TDF-containing ART.

Challenges faced by blind patients using chronic medication at a tertiary hospital in South Africa.

Background: Difficulties faced by blind patients in using medicines are largely unknown and underexplored. This limits the ability of health providers and health policy makers to plan and provide for medicine related needs of this special group.

Objectives: To describe the challenges faced by blind patients around Mankweng Hospital when taking chronic medications and to identify methods used to overcome the challenges.

The "hypopigmented" bitemark: a clinical and histologic appraisal.

So-called "hypopigmented" bitemark patterns, commonly seen but not limited to dark skinned individuals, can be of value in forensic investigations. The process of aging bitemarks observed on skin is controversial and without guidelines. This report analyzes tissue obtained from the site of a hypopigmented bitemark using special histochemical stains for the identification of melanin pigment, and a panel of immunohistochemical markers to aid in the aging process.

Observational study of the clinical performance of a public-private partnership national referral hospital network in Lesotho: Do improvements last over time?

Public-private partnerships (PPP) may increase healthcare quality but lack longitudinal evidence for success. The Queen 'Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH) in Lesotho is one of Africa's first healthcare PPPs. We compare data from 2012 and 2018 on capacity, utilization, quality, and outcomes to understand if early documented successes have been sustained using the same measures over time.

Critical Appraisal of Radionuclide Calibrators and Gamma Cameras Prior to Lutetium-177 Internal Dosimetry at Two South African Hospitals.

 The functionality of radionuclide dose calibrator and nuclear medicine imaging systems hasa direct effect on the accuracy and preciseness of internal dosimetry evaluations. Our study, therefore, aimed to critically appraise the radionuclide calibrators and gamma cameras prior to Lutetium-177 ( Lu) internal dosimetry in a developing country.  Two radionuclide calibrators' and three gamma cameras at two South African hospitals were critically appraised in preparation for internal dosimetry of Lu.

Correlation Between CT Features of Active Tuberculosis and Residual Metabolic Activity on End-of-Treatment FDG PET/CT in Patients Treated for Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Patients who complete a standard course of anti-tuberculous treatment (ATT) for pulmonary tuberculosis and are declared cured according to the current standard of care commonly have residual metabolic activity (RMA) in their lungs on fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PER/CT) imaging. RMA seen in this setting has been shown to be associated with relapse of tuberculosis. The routine clinical use of FDG PET/CT imaging for treatment response assessment in tuberculosis is hindered by cost and availability.

Comparative study of chemical pathology sample collection tubes at the largest hospital in South Africa.

Background: Barricor Lithium heparin plasma tubes are new blood tubes that have been introduced to overcome the effects of gel in serum separator tubes (SST) and the shortcomings of standard Lithium heparin plasma. We aimed to evaluate Barricor tubes as an alternative to serum separator tubes and compare the stability between the tubes.

Methods: Forty-four paired samples were collected using both Barricor and SST.

Slow down with that full bladder: A case report describing an intraperitoneal bladder rupture repaired laparoscopically.

Introduction: Intraperitoneal bladder rupture requires surgical repair (1). Historically these injuries were treated via laparotomy and open repair (1). There are only a few case reports of laparoscopic bladder repair reported in the literature.