World TB Day is commemorated on 24 March every year with the purpose of raising public awareness of tuberculosis (TB), a disease that claims millions of lives on a global scale every year. But why 24 March? On this day, back in 1882, Dr Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacterium that causes TB, …
A team of scientists at The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) released a *preprint of a paper on March 9th, 2021 entitled “Increased mortality among individuals hospitalised with COVID-19 during the second wave in South Africa.” When a second wave of infections swept across the globe, most countries reported a rise in cases, but …
A study on COVID-19 mortality in the second wave Read More »
When dawn broke on March 5th 2020, our nation held its breath as the Minister of Health, Dr Zwelini Mkhize announced that the first positive COVID-19 case was confirmed by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). One year down the line, and in commemoration of the first positive case being detected, it is fitting …
What must be done if a loved one passes away at home from COVID-19 ? Contact an undertaker to remove the body. You will have to let the undertaker know that your loved had COVID-19 so that they can ensure everyone’s safety. Once the undertaker has taken their body, wash your loved ones bed linens …
Efforts are underway to curb the outbreak. CELLOU BINANI/AFP via Getty Images Jacqueline Weyer, National Institute for Communicable Diseases New reports of Ebola in Guinea are causing anxiety given the history of the West Africa outbreak of 2014-2016. This was the largest Ebola outbreak reported to date – 28,000 cases were recorded, including 11,000 deaths. …
Why Ebola is back in Guinea and why the response must be different this time Read More »
Disclaimer: Information courtesy of the National Department of Health (09 Feb 2021) WHEN WILL SOUTH AFRICA RECEIVE VACCINES? South Africa received 1 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII) on 01 February 2021. New information that the AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the 501Y.V2 variant means that …
COVID-19 vaccine rollout for healthcare workers – FAQ Read More »
As many parents and caregivers prepare for the 2021 school year, those with little ones are encouraged to remind their children of the basic COVID-19 precautionary measures they can follow, when attending school. Basic preventive measures have proven effective in minimising the spread of COVID-19 Remind your child to properly wear a mask (cover both …
COVID-19 gets detention with handy school safety tips Read More »
Disclaimer: Information courtesy of the National Department of Health (09 Feb 2021) WHY DO VACCINES MATTER? Vaccines are an important part of stopping the spread of COVID-19 in the country. This is because they offer protection to an individual, by reducing their risk of infection or the severity of their symptoms, and also at a population …
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), together with research partners Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU), Epicentre, and Genesis Analytics, are currently conducting a survey on Healthcare Utilisation and Seroprevalence of COVID-19 in three districts in South Africa, referred to as the HUTS survey. The NICD has been monitoring respiratory diseases, such as influenza and …
The NICD Conducts Healthcare Utilisation and COVID-19 Seroprevalence Survey Read More »
The SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 lineage has been recently been shown to predominate in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa, all of which experienced major outbreaks of COVID-19. This variant of concern harbours mutations associated with increased transmissibility and neutralizing antibody resistance. In this report, we describe a preliminary analysis of 479 sequences …
Dominance of the SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 lineage in Gauteng Read More »
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