Western Cape Department of Health

Aberrant one-carbon metabolism and ancestral genetics underlie edematous severe acute malnutrition

Edematous severe childhood malnutrition is distinct from the non-edematous form of malnutrition and remains a major cause of under-five mortality. Its etiology remains unclear, although aberrant one-carbon metabolism has emerged as a potential contributor. Here, we assess genetic...

Association between early sexual debut and HIV infection among adolescent girls and young women in Cameroon: does motherhood modify the relationship?

Abstract Background In Cameroon, where HIV prevalence among Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) remains nearly double that of their male peers, limited evidence exists on how early sexual debut and motherhood jointly shape HIV risk. This study examines the association between...

Evidence of lower back pain, lumbosacral, sacroiliac joint, and pelvic asymmetries relevant to the posterior triangle effect: A systematic review protocol

Introduction Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide, with approximately 90% of cases classified as non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) due to the absence of an identifiable underlying pathology. Despite extensive research to date, the biomechanical mechan...

Intentions to abstain from alcohol during the Buddhist Lent campaign in Thailand: AUDIT-C risk profiles and independent sociodemographic correlates

Although the population level of the Buddhist Lent campaign was associated with a 10% reduction in alcohol consumption, it remains undetermined whether this reduction is uniform across different risk levels with respect to baseline alcohol consumption. To examine the association...

Induction failure and early death in paediatric acute myeloid leukaemia in Uganda: a developing country experience

Dose-intensive therapy for paediatric acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) has improved outcomes in high-income countries (HICs); however, outcomes remain poor in resource-limited settings, where induction failure and early death continue to pose significant challenges. This study aimed...

Co-development of a Mental Health Data Discovery Platform and Harmonisation of Mental Health Measures for Young People in South Africa (PAMHoYA) - A research protocol

Africa’s mental health information landscape is widely recognised as fragmented, limiting planning, budgeting, and service delivery. In South Africa, this fragmentation is reflected in the collection of depression and anxiety data across multiple institutions and studies, using d...

Population genomics, resistome and plasmidome of invasive Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in adults hospitalised in Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPn) is a leading cause of healthcare-associated infections in adults in low- and middle-income countries. We conducted laboratory-based surveillance between 2023 and 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and analysed 508 KPn whole genomes isolated f...

Feasibility and acceptability of a compassion-focused program to support staff, improve workflows and enhance the clinic environment in South African primary health clinics with low ART retention

South Africa has the largest HIV epidemic globally. Despite improvement, retention on antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains challenging. We used a positive deviance (PD) approach to develop a program called Connect designed to increase retention in HIV care by improving the staff...

Validation of the AO Spine Osteoporotic Fracture Classification—effect of geographical region on reliability and reproducibility

Regional differences affect the reliability of the AO Spine-DGOU Osteoporotic Fracture Classification. European participants showed the highest agreement. This study underscores the need for addressing regional factors to improve the system’s global clinical utility. To evaluate...

One in seven has severe pain: a point-prevalence study of hospitalised patients across Africa

ABSTRACT: Acute pain in hospitalised patients is common, yet African data are scarce. We conducted a prospective point-prevalence study of hospitalised adult patients across Africa to determine acute pain prevalence and severity and investigate associations of pain with critical...

A new reproducible, minimally invasive fin-clamp enabling biologging and animal-borne video studies of juvenile sharks

Abstract Background Fine-scale studies of juvenile shark ecology remain limited because existing tags are often too large or invasive to be deployed on sharks <2 m length. Consequently, high-resolution behavioral and physiological data from early life stages are scarce, despit...