Latest news with #NationalInstituteforCommunicableDiseases
The Citizen
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Public warned as rabies continues to spread in SA rural provinces
Public warned as rabies continues to spread in SA rural provinces The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has stressed the need for increased public awareness about the ongoing threat of rabies. According to the latest Public Health Bulletin South Africa (PHBSA) surveillance report, rabies continues to pose a significant public health threat in South Africa, especially in the Eastern Cape, KZN, and Limpopo. Rabies is a viral disease primarily transmitted through the saliva of infected animals, mostly dogs, via bites, scratches, or contact with mucous membranes or open wounds. 'Most human rabies cases are linked to dog bites, and the disease is almost always fatal once symptoms appear,' the NICD said. The study, titled Epidemiological Trends of Animal Bites and Human Rabies Cases in Limpopo, South Africa, 2011–2023: A Retrospective, highlighted the significance of continuous surveillance to track incidents of animal bites and human rabies cases. The study found that the majority of human rabies cases are reported from these regions. It emphasises the need to identify high-risk areas for targeted interventions. The article is part of the PHBSA initiative, which is led by the NICD and the National Institute for Occupational Health. It provides timely and actionable disease surveillance information for South Africa and the wider Southern African Development Community. While rabies is almost 100% fatal, the NICD said it is preventable through timely and appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in humans following possible exposures. The NICD said rabies in dogs and cats can be controlled through vaccination. 'Each pet owner has a responsibility to contribute to reducing the risk of rabies by ensuring their pets are vaccinated against rabies. Understanding local patterns of animal bites and rabies exposure is essential to guiding targeted interventions, improving vaccination coverage, and ultimately saving lives.' Lead author of the study Unarine Makungo said the article offers crucial, evidence-based information regarding the persistent risk of rabies in Limpopo, where outbreaks continue to occur and disproportionately affect children. 'It highlights the importance of dog vaccination, public awareness, and timely medical care after animal bites. The findings are directly relevant to healthcare providers, policymakers, and community members who play a role in rabies prevention and control,' Makungo said. Makungo added that she hopes this surveillance will help guide targeted vaccination campaigns in high-risk areas, ensuring that at least 70% of the dog population is vaccinated. 'It should also inform public education initiatives on rabies risks and appropriate responses to animal bites. Additionally, it can support awareness for access to free and timely PEP, particularly in rural and underserved communities.' She emphasised the need for stronger collaboration between the veterinary and human health sectors through the One Health approach. 'Ultimately, the goal is to reduce the incidence of rabies and animal-bite injuries, moving South Africa closer to achieving zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.' The study encourages the public to seek immediate medical care for PEP after a dog bite, which is available free of charge in the public sector and at a cost in the private sector. In the event of a dog bite, wounds and scratches should be washed immediately and thoroughly with soap or detergent and rinsed under running water for at least 15 minutes. The NICD is urging the public to report any suspected rabid animals to veterinary services or animal health technicians and not to try to capture or approach the animal. Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Daily Maverick
15-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Maverick
New strategies required to protect mothers and infants who are still getting HIV
Over the past two decades, South Africa made massive progress in reducing transmission of HIV from mothers to their babies. Even so, about 7,000 babies still contract the virus every year. Experts put this down to having the right puzzle pieces for prevention but failing to integrate them optimally. About 7,000 infants in South Africa still contract HIV from their mothers every year — a stark reminder that, while significant progress has been made in preventing mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), that progress has somewhat plateaued. Twenty years ago, there were 10 times as many — about 70,000 — new infections per year in babies. Today, the MTCT rate has dropped from a peak of over 30% at the turn of the century to about 2.7%. The story is mainly one of antiretroviral medicines helping suppress the virus in the bodies of mothers living with HIV, thus protecting tens of thousands of babies over the years. But the story is also one of progress that has slowed in recent years — while South Africa's MTCT rate lingers well above 2%, it is at or below 1% in several developed countries. About a decade ago, South Africa was making great progress towards reducing new HIV infections among children and keeping their mothers alive, but that has been followed by some complacency, says Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, CEO of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation and Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre. As pointed out by Professor Adrian Puren, Executive Director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the the head of its Centre for HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections, 'although the vertical transmission (another term for MTCT) rate is low, because of the high burden of maternal HIV, the absolute number of vertical transmissions remains high'. As pointed out by Dr Glenda Gray, a Distinguished Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand: 'We have very high rates of HIV in pregnant women in South Africa. About a third of all women in our country who are pregnant are HIV infected, and it's even higher in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal and particularly in young women.' An evolving problem The progress of the past two decades is largely due to increased access to antiretroviral therapy and how well the medicines suppress the virus in a person's body. If a mother living with HIV is stable on treatment, the chances are very close to zero that the virus will be transmitted to her baby. In the public sector, pregnant women are routinely tested for HIV and offered antiretroviral therapy if positive. A complication, however, emerges when a woman contracts HIV late in pregnancy or in the months after birth and the virus is then transmitted to her baby via breastfeeding before she is diagnosed and can start the treatment that will suppress the virus. The latest estimates from Thembisa, the leading mathematical model of HIV in South Africa, suggest that this dynamic is indeed driving much of the MTCT in the country. Of the approximately 7,200 babies who contracted HIV in South Africa from mid-2023 to mid-2024, only 2,500 became positive before or at birth. The rest of the transmissions occurred during breastfeeding in the months after birth. While a portion of these mothers were on antiretroviral therapy, the majority had not been diagnosed with HIV yet. HIV-exposed infants are at particularly high risk if the mother was recently infected. As Bekker explains, this is because a person who has just acquired HIV has a very high amount of the virus in their body, since their immune system hasn't had time to fight it yet, making it easier to pass the virus on. 'So, you get very high viral loads, and this is therefore a very dangerous time for vertical transmission,' she says. Dvora Joseph Davey, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Cape Town, concurs. 'We know that in South Africa, over a third of HIV in infants is due to getting HIV from their mothers who were HIV-negative at their first antenatal visit, and they acquired HIV at some point during pregnancy or lactation,' she says. She explains that MTCT is in part due to inequity in healthcare. Mother-to-child transmissions often occur in certain pockets, such as in rural areas, because of limited access to prevention methods, late diagnosis, not starting treatment on time, and coming into antenatal care late. 'This points to missed opportunities in sustaining maternal antiretroviral therapy adherence and viral suppression throughout the breastfeeding window — an area where we urgently need more targeted and consistent support,' says Olwethu Mlanzeli, who leads Communications and Advocacy for the youth HIV-focused initiative Africa Reach. What to do? South Africa's 2023 guidelines for preventing vertical transmission (of several infectious diseases) does cover several of the issues experts raised in interviews with Spotlight. Among others, the guidelines recommend that pregnant women or new mothers who are newly diagnosed with HIV should be started on a dolutegravir-based antiretroviral regimen, since dolutegravir is particularly effective at rapidly suppressing the virus. The guidelines prescribe testing babies for HIV at birth, 10 weeks, and at six and 18 months. But in South Africa, good guidelines are not always followed by universal implementation. In line with this, several experts firstly suggest simply strengthening existing HIV treatment and prevention services, particularly those aimed at women before, during and in the months after pregnancy. It is suggested that women should continually be offered HIV testing during all stages of pregnancy and after birth. Joseph Davey says this needs to be integrated better, so that the same nurse offers contraceptives, HIV testing and HIV prevention medicines, proactively. Her research has shown that, at least on a small scale, training clinics to integrate the services can work well. Puren notes that the integration of MTCT care could also be done by joining HIV testing with infant immunisation programmes. 'There doesn't need to be a major overhaul,' adds Joseph Davey. 'These are simple steps related to data collection and targets around HIV testing that can be implemented within existing standards of care.' Experts also suggest that it is crucial to put women and babies on HIV treatment and HIV-prevention treatment as widely as possible during the postnatal phase. Joseph Davey cautions that these interventions are not the same across the country. The Western Cape, for instance, has explicit guidelines around HIV prevention medicines and pregnancy that have been updated every few years, while this does not seem to be the case for other provinces. Joseph Davey says that expanding this could be helpful. But even with good guidelines, there are barriers to adherence. Bekker notes that a daily HIV prevention regimen may be difficult to take for a pregnant woman experiencing morning sickness, or while she is a new parent. 'So here comes the perfect opportunity for long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis, such as cabotegravir or hopefully, in the future, lenacapavir,' she says. Not widely available Cabotegravir injections provide two months of protection against HIV infection per shot and lenacapavir six months per shot. Neither is yet widely available in South Africa. Cabotegravir is registered here, and lenacapavir's registration is expected in the next six months or so. There are other potential advances, according to Gray, that could make a significant difference. 'Antiretrovirals can mop up and control a lot, but to eradicate breast milk transmission we need other monoclonal antibodies or an HIV vaccine. And so, if we really are committed to eradicating paediatric HIV, then we need more tools besides antiretroviral therapies in the toolbox.' For now, these alternatives to antiretrovirals remain experimental and none have been proven to work or been approved for use by regulatory authorities. Lastly, Mlanzeli notes that patient awareness is a key part of the challenge, especially during the postnatal period. 'There's a need for greater investment and visibility around prevention of MTCT programmes, particularly in the postnatal period,' she says. 'While many governments allocate substantial resources to HIV programmes overall, these resources don't always translate into strengthened support for mothers and infants.' Brodie Daniels, Specialist Scientist at the HIV and other Infectious Diseases Research Unit at the South African Medical Research Council, agrees. 'What we need to focus on now is educating women on the increased risks during pregnancy and breastfeeding if they are HIV-uninfected during their antenatal visits,' she says. 'Women need to be encouraged to test more often during these periods, so that if they do seroconvert, both they and their infant can be placed on prophylaxis.' Impact of aid cuts In recent months, large and abrupt cuts to HIV funding from the United States government have severely disrupted HIV services in South Africa and neighbouring countries. While some limited funds are still flowing, it is a small fraction of what there was previously and there is little hope that funding will be restored. Several researchers Spotlight spoke to are very worried that the cuts will negatively impact MTCT rates. The cutting of some services, specifically those aimed at marginal groups, will probably lead to many not being able to access HIV counselling, prevention and testing services in a timely manner. Thus, the number of women contracting HIV while pregnant or breastfeeding and not being virally controlled may increase. But the silver lining is that change is within reach, if the resources are available and implementation is done right. As Bekker puts it: 'We know exactly what we need to do, and it's not like we don't have the tools. We need to just do it!' DM
The Citizen
14-05-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Earliest flu season in a decade hits the Vaal
Given the early arrival of the flu season and the dominance of circulating strains, health authorities are urging the public – especially high-risk individuals, such as the elderly, young children, pregnant women and those with chronic conditions – to prioritise flu vaccination and seek medical care early if flu-like symptoms develop. Observed annually on May 5, World Hand Hygiene Day underscores the critical role of handwashing in curbing the spread of infectious diseases, particularly during the colder months when illnesses like influenza and respiratory infections rise. According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the 2025 flu season began exceptionally early, starting in the week of March 24 (week 13) – making it the earliest onset in more than a decade. This marks a significant shift, as the 2024 season only began four weeks later, in late April. Data from the NICD's pneumonia surveillance programme also confirms that the most prevalent influenza strain currently in circulation is influenza, which accounts for 68% of lab-confirmed cases to date. Respiratory illnesses, like colds and flu, are transmitted through droplets and contact with contaminated surfaces, making hand hygiene an essential barrier against infection. The World Health Organisation emphasises that proper hand hygiene is one of the most effective measures to prevent the spread of infection in healthcare settings and the community. Key times to wash hands include: Before and after eating and preparing food; When caring for someone at home who is sick with vomiting/diarrhea; Before and after treating wounds; After using the toilet, changing nappies or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet; After coughing or sneezing; After touching animals or their waste; After touching dirt, and when coming home from public places. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
12-05-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Beat the flu before it beats you: handwashing is your first line of defence
The beauty of hand hygiene lies in its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. As the winter chill settles across South Africa, so too does the annual rise in sniffles, sneezes, and serious illnesses like influenza and respiratory infections. But this year, the flu season arrived earlier than expected, catching many families and workplaces off guard. According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the 2025 flu season began in late March, the earliest onset since 2010. If you thought you had more time to prepare, you're not alone. Data from the NICD's pneumonia surveillance programme highlights that influenza A(H3N2) is the dominant strain this year, accounting for nearly 70% of laboratory-confirmed cases. This is more than just a statistic; it's a wake-up call for South Africans to double down on prevention, especially when it comes to one of the simplest, yet most effective, barriers against infection: handwashing. Why is handwashing so important during flu season? The science is clear: respiratory viruses like colds and the flu spread easily through droplets when we cough, sneeze, or even talk. Touching contaminated surfaces and then touching our faces, something we all do countless times a day, makes us vulnerable. That's why the World Health Organisation (WHO) continues to emphasise that proper hand hygiene is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of infection, both in hospitals and in our everyday spaces. But why does hand hygiene matter so much, especially now? Protecting the vulnerable Not everyone has the same level of immunity. Elderly people, young children, and those living with chronic illnesses like asthma, diabetes, or HIV are at higher risk of severe flu complications. Your commitment to handwashing protects not just yourself, but also your loved ones and the broader community.
The Citizen
10-05-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Thornhill Manor leads the way in early flu vaccination
Thornhill Manor leads the way in early flu vaccination With South Africa's 2025 flu season arriving earlier than expected, retirement communities are ramping up efforts to protect their most vulnerable. At Thornhill Manor, a Rand Aid-run retirement village, over 100 residents signed up for the flu vaccine drive that kicked off in April The initiative, supported by Dis-Chem, saw the pharmacy group assisting with the vaccine order and providing a nurse to help the village's own, Sister Joanne Bosman, with administering the vaccines. ALSO READ: Why immunisation is vital for your child 'Flu vaccines are crucial for the elderly to reduce the risk of serious flu complications, hospitalisations and death, especially as their immune systems weaken with age,' said Joanne. The vaccination drive was rolled out over several days. Similar drives took place at Rand Aid's sister village, Elphin Lodge, as well as the Ron Smith Care Centre. and Inyoni Creek. According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), South Africa's 2025 flu season began during the week of March 24 – the earliest start since 2010. ALSO READ: Puppy raiser shares her tale with South African Guide Dogs Association Vulnerable populations, including seniors, are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated as soon as possible. As flu viruses evolve annually, health authorities recommend yearly vaccinations and stress that it's never too late to receive protection. 'We are ensuring our residents are safeguarded through proactive measures and accessible primary healthcare,' said Jackie Scott, the village's deputy manager. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
