Calvin Odhiambo, 30, has been diagnosed with HIV after he fell sick and was admitted at the Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital. He recovered well and was put on ART. David was admitted at the HBCTRH after falling sick. He had cryptococcal meningitis and Karposi Sarcoma (KS) â a kind of cancer common among HIV-positive patients who are failing treatment. The KS had affected his left leg as well and he has to walk using supports. Picture: Paul Odongo
HIV-related cryptococcal meningitis could be averted
By OWN Correspondent
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A coalition of African, European and American institutions, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) believe that tens of thousands of deaths from HIV-related cryptococcal meningitis (CM) could be averted every year.
The controversial homeless shelter camp established at the Strandfontein Sports complex last year PHOTO: Samantha Lee-Jacobs
Saya Pierce-Jones writes that the City of Cape Town s persistent refusal to take accountability for oversights at Strandfontein could be its downfall.
The City had approached the courts following the release of the report last year, to seek an interdict against the SAHRC for spreading misinformation and lies .
What was meant to be a safe shelter for 2 000 of the poorest of the poor during a global pandemic soon turned out to be a living hell for most. Talking to the media through make-shift fences, residents said officials had tricked them into boarding buses, under the guise of getting a Covid-19 check-up, only to be left stranded at the campsite.
A third wave is coming, and South Africa needs to prepare.Â
Drawing on the experience of responding to the second COVID-19 wave in seven hospitals in three provinces, and also in Lesotho, MSF shares reflections on the importance of hospital preparedness for the next wave.
The second COVID-19 wave hit South Africa hard. Between October 2020 and February 2021, 17% more people were infected than in the first 8 months of the epidemic, and more people died, 26,000 in total.
The rapid spread of the new dominant variant 501Y.V2, which differs from the original by up to twenty mutations and is twice as transmissible, likely caused a more severe second wave than was anticipated. Vaccines are now being rolled out to frontline healthcare workers in South Africa but it is likely that more widespread vaccine roll-out will not have occurred before a new surge in infections in a third wave begins after April/May. To avert more deaths and struggles to ensure adequate care to thousands of C
PREMIUM! Healthcare workers conduct tests for the coronavirus in Stjwetla, Alexandra, after a case of Covid-19
was found there soon after the outbreak in South Africa. Picture: Neil McCartney
As South Africa today marks a year since the first case of coronavirus was detected, doctors at the coalface of the pandemic have urged people not to be complacent. On 5 March, 2020, a coronavirus-free South Africa was plunged into a state of panic when a 38-year-old man from Hilton, near Pietermaritzburg, returning from a holiday in Italy with his wife, tested positive. At the time, over 2 500 cases and 79 deaths were reported in Italy, where the man and his party – among a group of 10 tourists – had spent their holiday. Urging South Africans not to.
When there is a shortage of nurses, such as in the Covid-19 pandemic, task-shifting of basic care to less specialised cadres such as caregivers, nursing auxiliaries or community health workers can prevent unnecessary deaths, writes Gilles van Cutsem.