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Published on 1 March 2021 in the SA Medical Journal, the article titled Viruses, variants and vaccines was co-authored by Rhodes University’s Professor Rosemary Dorrington from the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology. The article addresses some of the major global clinical, sociological and economic issues brought about by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, focusing on short-term factors such as virus variants and vaccine efficacy, and also considers the longer-term implications of the current pandemic.
According to the article, SARS-CoV-2 will probably remain in circulation for decades or longer. However, “The core issue is not whether SARS-CoV-2 is here to stay, like its common cold-causing relatives, but how we as the human race will deal with it in the medium to long term. How will human behaviour and lifestyles ‘normalise’ in a ‘post-COVID pandemic’ world?”.
Social media has been buzzing with health-care workers sharing photos, particularly selfies, of themselves getting the Covid-19 vaccine jab in the hopes of encouraging others to get vaccinated too.
(MENAFN - The Conversation) Professor in Vaccinology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town Profile Articles Activity
Anna-Lise Williamson FRSSAf MASSAf is a Professor of Virology at the University of Cape Town. Williamson obtained her PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1985. Her area of expertise is human papillomavirus, but is also known on an international level for her work in developing vaccines for HIV. These vaccines have been introduce in phase 1 of clinical trial. Williamson has published more than 120 papers
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World Cancer Day, which is commemorated globally on 4 February, aims to raise attention and inspire action for a cancer-free future. According to Professor Jennifer Moodley, the director of the Cancer Research Initiative at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS), the burden of cancer is rising worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries like South Africa.
“The rising burden [of cancer] relates to the growing and ageing population, life circumstances and ways of living, and ongoing infections such as the human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis,” said Professor Moodley.
UCT’s collective response to cancer is complex and multifaceted, bringing together experts from various fields. A few of them give insights below into how their work is contributing towards creating a cancer-free future.
The ring has finally arrived!
By Shobha Shukla - CNS
JAN 29, 2021
You guessed it right. I am talking about the dapivirine vaginal ring (DPV-VR), which is one of the top advances happening in the field of microbicides. It is the first long acting prevention product whose Phase-3 randomised controlled studies have shown that using the dapivirine vaginal ring reduced the risk of HIV infection in women and long-term use was well-tolerated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has just recommended it as a new prevention choice for women at substantial risk of HIV infection as part of combination prevention approaches. The European Medicine Agency has already given a positive scientific opinion on its use, and it has been submitted for regulatory approvals in many countries of Africa and in the USA.