South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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There is a paucity of data on the aetiology of neonatal sepsis in sub-Saharan Africa. ⋯ In our setting, physician-diagnosed sepsis represents a huge disease burden in previously healthy neonates hospitalised from home. Most sepsis cases were attributed to S. viridans, S. agalactiae and S. aureus.
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South Africa (SA) has among the highest rates of HIV and tuberculosis (TB) in the world. Antituberculosis and antiretroviral treatment (ART) can cause drug-induced liver injury (DILI), consequences of which are disease relapse, treatment failure and drug resistance. ⋯ This study is one of only a few analyses of hospitalised patients with DILI in SA. Among those with severe DILI, outcomes are poor, the majority cannot tolerate standard regimens, and mortality is high.
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Group A streptococcus (GAS) is a human pathogen responsible for a wide range of invasive and non-invasive infections. Pharyngitis caused by GAS may have complications such as acute rheumatic fever subsequently leading to rheumatic heart disease (RHD). RHD continues to have high morbidity and mortality and affects millions of children and young adults, mostly in developing countries. An effective preventive vaccine against GAS may reduce the morbidity and mortality. A 30-valent M-protein-based vaccine is currently at the clinical trials stage of development. Potential vaccine coverage will depend on the geographical distribution of GAS emm (M protein) types. ⋯ Fifteen emm types were identified, of which 92 was the most prevalent. It is concerning that 67% of the emm types are not covered in the vaccine currently under development. It is recommended that surveillance studies be extended to include other parts of the country in order to expand knowledge of the circulating emm types.
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South Africa has a high burden of traumatic injuries that is predominantly managed in the public healthcare system, despite the relative disparity in human resources between the public and private sectors. Because of budget and theatre time constraints, the trauma waiting list often exceeds 50 - 60 patients who need urgent and emergent surgery in high-volume orthopaedic trauma centres. This situation is exacerbated by other surgical disciplines using orthopaedic theatre time for life-threatening injuries because of lack of own theatre availability. One of the proposed solutions to this problem is outsourcing of some of the cases to private medical facilities. ⋯ Although this analysis was conducted over a short period, it highlights the significant amount of trauma work done by a single individual at a high-volume tertiary orthopaedic trauma unit. With increasing budget constraints, pressure on theatre time and a growing population, cost-effective expansion of resources is needed. From this study, it appears that increasing capacity in the state sector could be cheaper than private outsourcing, although a more in-depth analysis needs to be conducted.
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Health service coverage cascades measure the proportion of a population in need of a service that experienced a positive health outcome from the service, and enable tracking of progress in achieving universal health coverage and inequities in care coverage. ⋯ These findings emphasise the need to close the gaps in HIV care coverage among AGYW, of whom only 61% knew their HIV-positive status and only 62% were virally suppressed. There is pro-poor inequality in HIV care coverage, with those in lower socioeconomic groups more likely to be virally suppressed.