The Infectious diseases community of South Africa

Risk of waterborne diseases grows in rural areas of Zimbabwe

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:52:00 +0200

Mhondoro is a farm settlement about 45km southwest of the Zimbabwean capital Harare. Two children, two-year-old twins, splash about in a pool of greenish water close to their mother's hut.
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Nighttime images help track disease from the sky

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:50:00 +0200

Normally used to spot where people live, satellite images of nighttime lights can help keep tabs on the diseases festering among them, too, according to new research.
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Bristol researchers to help tackle the global problem of antibiotic resistance

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:15:00 +0200

Antibiotic resistance has become an escalating health issue that threatens our ability to control bacterial infections. To help tackle this global health problem an international collaboration, comprising researchers from the UK and Canada, has been awarded around £4.5 million to develop new strategies for treating 'superbugs'.
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Wits scientists working to neutralise HIV

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:18:00 +0200

Professor Caroline Tiemessen is attempting to understand why some individuals - referred to as elite controllers - are able to be HIV infected, but successfully suppress virus replication to undetectable levels. This is according to a report published on allAfrica.com.
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Could social media be used to detect disease outbreaks?

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:20:00 +0200

New research has looked at whether social media could be used to track an event or phenomenon, such as flu outbreaks and rainfall rates.
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Non-communicable diseases: Africa must 'spend a lot more'

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:47:00 +0200

BERLIN, GERMANY: According to scidev.net, Olive Shisana, CEO of the South African Human Sciences Research Council, said at the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany that infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, are expected to decline while non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, will increase in Africa over the coming decades.
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New test can precisely pinpoint food pathogens

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:03:00 +0200

ITHACA, NY, USA: With salmonella-tainted ground turkey sickening more than 100 people and listeria-contaminated cantaloupes killing 15 this year, the ability to detect outbreaks of food-borne illness and determine their sources has become a top public health priority.
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Comparing apples with pears - the SA pharmaceutical market is not the same as the US one!

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:19:00 +0200

A recent report by the American Federal Trade Commission ("FTC", the equivalent to South Africa's competition authorities) on the short and long-term effects of authorised generics sparked an article in the Business Report on Friday, 14 October- "Delay in generics robbing SA's sick". An authorised generic is an approved brand name drug marketed as a generic.
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Young people having more unprotected sex

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:19:00 +0200

LONDON: The number of young people having unprotected sex in the West has risen sharply over the past two years, a survey said on Monday (26 September 2011), with health professionals concerned the safe sex message is falling on deaf ears.
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Spotlight on Rabies

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:48:00 +0200

PRETORIA: In marking World Rabies Day on Wednesday, 28 September 2011, the Department of Health will host a panel discussion with various experts on rabies to help increase public awareness of the condition.
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