At the beginning of 2020, most people hadn’t used the word ‘pandemic’ before. Now it’s time to understand the term ‘endemic’ and find out what to expect when COVID changes shape.
Between May 2020 and early September 2021, over a quarter of a million more people have died from natural causes than was predicted for that time period.
Sexually transmitted infections and bacterial vaginosis can provide ideal conditions for HIV infection in women. A new test aims to detect these conditions even when women don’t show symptoms.
Big Food companies producing ulta-processed foods are using a range of key market and political practices to increase their reach, particularly in developing countries.
Many African countries are experienced in managing outbreaks of viral haemorrhagic fevers and many of the lessons learnt from the Ebola can be applied to the Marburg outbreak.
The real burden of the disease is way underestimated. Not all the labs in the country are included in the tally an only a few can conduct COVID-19 tests.
Although there is no evidence yet that it affects COVID-19 vaccines, schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease, has been associated with lower vaccine immunity for several vaccines.
Islamophobia increased post-9/11. Twenty years later, American Muslims are still dealing with the mental health effects – and research barriers limit what is known about what puts them at risk.
Katelyn Jetelina, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
A lot has happened since the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. A portrait in data highlights trends in everything from case counts, to research publications, to variant spread.
Michelle J. Groome, National Institute for Communicable Diseases; Adrian Puren, National Institute for Communicable Diseases y Harry Moultrie, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
Communities with high vaccine coverage rates are likely to see lower case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths related to COVID-19 compared to those with poor vaccine coverage.
Countries must be encouraged to distribute essential healthcare provision - like diagnosis - to where people most need them and where they can be accessed more easily.
Dr Kim Jonas, South African Medical Research Council
An increase in the adolescent pregnancy rate strongly suggests challenges with accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare services for this vulnerable age group.
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand
Principal Medical Scientist and Head of Laboratory for Antimalarial Resistance Monitoring and Malaria Operational Research, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
Professor and Programme Director, SA MRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science - PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons in Systems Strengthening South Africa), University of the Witwatersrand
Professor of medicine and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town