Metagenomic insights into the microbial community of the Buhera soda pans, Zimbabwe.

Background: Soda pans are unique, natural aquatic environments characterised by elevated salinity and alkalinity, creating a distinctive and often extreme geochemistry. The microbiomes of soda pans are unique, with extremophiles such as halophiles, alkaliphiles and haloalkaliphiles being important. Despite being dominated by mostly unculturable inhabitants, soda pans hold immense biotechnological potential.

Rotavirus vaccine effectiveness stratified by national-level characteristics: an introduction to the 24-country MNSSTER-V Project, 2007-2023.

Background: Rotavirus vaccines are moderately protective against illness in high mortality settings compared with low mortality settings. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) evaluations may clarify our understanding of these disparities, but estimates among key subpopulations and against rare outcomes are not available in many analyses due to sample size. We combined 25 datasets from test-negative design case-control evaluations in 24 countries that enrolled children with medically-attended diarrhea, laboratory-confirmed rotavirus stool testing, and documented vaccination status.

World Health Organization African Region national heads of units of diagnostics and laboratory services meetings proceedings.

Background: In the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region, many cases of serious and preventable diseases remain unmanaged because appropriate and good quality diagnostic support is not available at all levels within countries' health systems. Diagnostic and laboratory services influence the efficiency and effectiveness of both clinical and public health functions, including diagnosis, treatment, health promotion, disease prevention, surveillance and response, and research. Essential to global health security, these services are vital to decision-making processes by clinicians, epidemiologists, public health specialists, and health policymakers.

Systemic biological mechanisms underpin poor post-discharge growth among severely wasted children with HIV.

In sub-Saharan Africa, children with severe malnutrition (SM) and HIV have substantially worse outcomes than children with SM alone, facing higher mortality risk and impaired nutritional recovery post-hospitalisation. Biological mechanisms underpinning this risk remain incompletely understood. This case-control study nested within the CHAIN cohort in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, and Burkina Faso examined effect of HIV on six months post-discharge growth among children with SM and those at risk of malnutrition, assessed proteomic signatures associated with HIV in these children, and investigated how these systemic processes impact post-discharge growth in children with SM.

Factors associated with uptake of HIV testing among clients diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections in Chegutu District, Zimbabwe, 2021.

Unlabelled: HIV testing services (HTS) enable early linkage to HIV prevention, treatment and care. A review of Chegutu District Health Information System 2 sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV data revealed HIV testing rates among those infected with STIs were 41%, 48%, 50%, 51% and 68%, respectively, for the period 2016-2020 against a target of 100%. We investigated factors associated with the uptake of HTS among STI clients.

African Schistosomiasis: A Framework of Indicators Assessing the Transmission Risk and Intervention Effectiveness.

Schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease with a complex transmission mechanism, requiring a snail intermediate host, is influenced by biology, the environment, human behavior and the prevailing socioeconomic situation. This study aimed to systematically investigate the importance and feasibility of indicators related to the factors influencing transmission and intervention measures for and . Based on a literature review and group discussions according to the Delphi method, a framework questionnaire was designed.

Closing the Loop in the Carbon Cycle: Enzymatic Reactions Housed in Metal-Organic Frameworks for CO Conversion to Methanol.

The preparation of value-added chemicals from carbon dioxide (CO) can act as a way of reducing the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Industrially significant C1 chemicals like methanol (CHOH), formic acid (HCOOH), and formaldehyde (HCHO) can be formed from CO. One sustainable way of achieving this is by connecting the reactions catalyzed by the enzymes formate dehydrogenase (FDH), formaldehyde dehydrogenase (FALDH), and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) into a single cascade reaction where CO is hydrogenated to CHOH.

Creating constellations of coexistence through connections between people in human-wildlife conflict areas.

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is a critical challenge to human development and well-being and threatens biodiversity conservation. Ideally, HWC mitigation should benefit both wildlife and communities and limit the costs associated with living alongside wildlife. However, place- and context-dependent realizations of conflict are often overlooked in HWC mitigation.

Optimising instructional materials for Covid-19 rapid tests for self-sampling and testing: Mapping the optimization process of manufacturer's instructions for use for self-testing RDTs intended for low-literacy contexts.

Simple and easy to use kits for SARS-Cov-2 self-testing during epidemic waves are needed to optimize diagnostic capacity in low- and middle-income countries. SARS-Cov-2 self-testing kits are available, but application of these novel diagnostic technologies is less understood in low and middle-income contexts. We investigated the ability to understand and perform instructions for use (IFUs) for STANDARD Q COVID-19 Ag Test (SD Biosensor) and Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device (Abbott Rapid Diagnostics) for anterior nares (AN) nasal self-sampling and self-testing for COVID-19 in rural and urban Malawi.

Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of vitamin A supplementation programs in Africa: A systematic review.

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) impacts over 50% of children aged 6-59 months in sub-Saharan Africa, causing severe health issues. Despite the importance of vitamin A supplementation (VAS) programs, barriers limit their effectiveness, making it essential to understand these factors for better outcomes. This systematic review aimed to identify the barriers and facilitators to VAS programs in Africa, using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to conceptualize the findings.

Evaluating the feasibility and attitudes towards SARS-CoV-2 self-testing in a rural population in Zimbabwe: a cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: The widespread adoption of self-testing for SARS-CoV-2 has proven effective in curbing the virus' spread, particularly in Western countries. However, significant knowledge gaps persist regarding the feasibility, acceptance and factors influencing the uptake of self-testing in low-resource areas, notably rural Africa. Our aim was to assess the willingness and capability of rural Zimbabwean participants to self-diagnose COVID-19 using rapid lateral flow tests (LFTs) and adhere to post-positive test guidelines.

Cost-effectiveness of viral load testing for transitioning antiretroviral therapy-experienced children to dolutegravir in South Africa: a modelling analysis.

Background: For children with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART), transitioning to dolutegravir-containing regimens is recommended. The aim of this study was to assess whether introducing viral load testing to inform new nucleoside or nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) for children with HIV and viraemia alongside dolutegravir-based ART is beneficial and of good economic value.

Methods: We used the Cost-Effectiveness of Preventing AIDS Complications-Pediatric model to project clinical and cost implications of three strategies among a simulated cohort of South African children aged 8 years with HIV receiving abacavir-lamivudine-efavirenz: (1) continue current ART (no dolutegravir; abacavir-lamivudine-efavirenz); (2) transition all children with HIV to dolutegravir, keeping current NRTIs (dolutegravir; abacavir-lamivudine-dolutegravir); or (3) transition to dolutegravir based on viral load testing (viral load plus dolutegravir), keeping current NRTIs if virologically suppressed (abacavir-lamivudine-dolutegravir, 70% of cohort) or switching abacavir to zidovudine (zidovudine) if viraemic (zidovudine-lamivudine-dolutegravir, 30%).

SARS-CoV-2 cross-sectional serosurvey across three HIV-1 therapeutic clinical trials in Africa.

Objective: Data on the impact of COVID-19 in people living with HIV (PWH) are lacking in resource-constrained settings. We utilised existingrandomised clinical trials (RCTs) on antiretroviral therapies (ART) in HIV-1 infection to conduct a SARS-CoV-2 serosurvey, between January and March 2021, while characterising participants' features.

Design: Cross-sectional serosurvey.

Weight and Lipid Levels in People Living With HIV and Initiating a Dolutegravir-Based Regimen in a Resource Limited Setting: A Prospective Study.

Following the 2018 World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines on HIV treatment and management, the Zimbabwean government has embraced dolutegravir (DTG)-based regimens as the preferred first-line treatment for people living with HIV (PLWH). Despite this implementation, there remains a paucity of knowledge on the potential associations between DTG-based regimens, body weight and blood lipid levels among PLWH in Zimbabwe. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate variances in body weight and blood lipid levels at two distinct timepoints-baseline and 6-month post-DTG initiation.

Nucleic acid amplification testing using dried blood spots to confirm the diagnosis of HIV-1 in adults.

Background: The WHO HIV testing algorithm for high prevalence populations recommends the use of three different serologic assays, though this approach may lead to diagnostic misclassification. The study objective was to compare dried blood spot (DBS)-based HIV-1 nucleic acid detection methods to determine their suitability to confirm the diagnosis of HIV-1 in adults generally with suppressed or low-level plasma HIV-1 RNA.

Methods: Four methods were evaluated: Cepheid Xpert HIV-1 Qual Assay (Xpert), Hologic Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx assay (Aptima), Roche Cobas Ampliprep/Cobas TaqMan HIV-1 test, v.

The role of vitamin D metabolism in regulating bone turnover in adolescents with perinatally-acquired HIV in Southern Africa: a cross-sectional study in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Vitamin D dysregulation can occur in people living with HIV, disrupting calcium homeostasis, and bone turnover. We aimed to investigate the potential mechanisms by which vitamin D regulates bone turnover in adolescents living with perinatally-acquired HIV (ALWH) in Southern Africa. A pre-planned secondary analysis was performed of baseline data from the vitamin D for adolescents with HIV to reduce musculoskeletal morbidity and immunopathology trial (PACTR20200989766029) which enrolled ALWH (11-19 yr) taking antiretroviral therapy for ≥6 mo, and recorded socio-demographic, clinical and dietary data.