Taking the antibiotic doxycycline after condomless sex can reduce the risk of contracting three different sexually transmitted infections (STIs), according to a study presented last week at the AIDS 2022 conference in Montreal, Canada. Elri Voigt unpacks the study findings and asks local experts what it might mean for combatting STIs in South Africa.
While COVID-19 cases are surging in South Africa off the back of the dominant Delta variant, the flu virus has virtually vanished. Only 50 influenza cases have been detected so far this year through the country’s influenza monitoring system. Adele Baleta unpacks what is going on.
While local experts generally welcome the order in which vaccines will be provided to different categories of people in South Africa, they are concerned that some practical nuances are unclear. Elna Schütz reports.
How many people have actually died of COVID-19 in South Africa and what do we know about the possibility of a second wave? As the first, and hopefully the only, substantial wave of infections and death recedes, Spotlight Editor Marcus Low assesses the many remaining uncertainties.
Initial results from an antibody survey conducted in the Cape Town Metro indicate that of 2 700 pregnant women and people living with HIV making use of the public healthcare system, 40% have previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Adele Baleta has the details.
EDITORIAL: That the wave of infections and deaths is growing and will soon break over us is inevitable. There are no silver bullets that can make it all go away, certainly no quick fixes to hope for from a largely incapacitated state and a public healthcare system that was already in crisis prior to the pandemic.
What the models predict about COVID-19. But beware – soothsaying has a checkered history.
