SPOTLIGHT

KRISP NEWS

SPARK South Africa: Novel Diagnostics Grant Application 2020

Proposals will be reviewed by a selection committee composed of KRISP, UKZN, eThekwini, Stanford and SPARK Global faculty and commercial and industry experts. Based on the compiled rankings, finalists will be invited to present an oral pitch to the review panel in early December, 2020. Approximately 3-5 proposals selected for awards (number dependent on available funding) will be notified before the end of December, 2020.

28th Weekly Press Briefing on the Coronavirus disease outbreak - Dr John Nkengasong & Prof. Tulio de Oliveira

WHAT: Weekly interaction with members of the media to share critical updates on steps taken to implement key aspects of the joint continental strategy for COVID-19 response; and to also highlight the coordinated efforts by African Union Member States to combat the pandemic in their respective countries.

How a team of scientists worked tirelessly to help the COVID-19 response in Africa

Ahead of the emergence of the SARS-CoV -2 outbreak in South Africa KRISP started preparing for it. KRISP really rose to the occasion in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. In the process, KRISP trained 1000s of health care workers, produced genomic protocols & capacitated dozens of laboratories in Africa to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic

Accelerating genomics-based surveillance for COVID-19 response in Africa

The use of genomics to support the response to COVID-19 and containment of the virus in Africa is currently low. To address this suboptimal use of genomics, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Institute of Pathogen Genomics, in consultation with the Africa CDC led African Task Force for Coronavirus Preparedness and Response (AFTCOR) laboratory technical working group.

Excess deaths increase but we are ‘still in the dark’

There have been 17090 more deaths in the country than there were in previous years during the same period. But the official number of Covid-19 deaths is about 6000. There is a significant departure from the historical trends, even under these abnormal circumstances.

South Africa 59% excess deaths imply hidden Covid-19 toll

South Africa witnessed some 17000 extra deaths from natural causes or 59% more than would normally be expected between early May and mid-July, scientists said, suggesting many more people are dying of Covid-19 than shown in official figures.

South Africa joins 'Big 5' COVID-19 countries

South Africa has joined the United States, Brazil, India, and Russia as the countries with the most recorded COVID-19 cases. On Saturday, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize announced the country has 350,879 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

KRISP SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

Impact of pretreatment low-abundance HIV-1 drug-resistant variants on virological failure among HIV-1/TB-co-infected individuals.
Chimukangara B, Giandhari J, Lessells J, Yende-Zuma N, Sartorius B, Samuel R, Khanyile KS, Stray-Pedersen B, Moodley P, Metzner KJ, Padayatchi N, Naidoo K, de Oliveira T, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (2020), 75, 11:3319–3326, https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkaa343.

Unlocking the efficiency of genomics laboratories with robotic liquid-handling.
Tegally H, San JE, Giandhari J, de Oliveira T, BMC Gennomics (2020), 729:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-020-07137-1.

Fatal outcome of chikungunya virus infection in Brazil.
Lima STS, Souza WM, Cavalcante JW, Candido DS, Fumagalli MJ, Carrera JP, Mello LMS, Araújo FMC, Ramalho ILC, Barreto FKA, Braga DNM, Simião AR, Silva MJM, Oliveira RMAB, Lima CPS, Lins CS, Barata RR, Melo MNP, Souza MPC, Franco LM, Távora FRF, Lemos DRQ, Alencar CHM, Jesus R, Fonseca V, Dutra LH, Abreu AL, Araújo ELL, Freitas ARR, Júnior JLSGV, Pybus OG, Figueiredo LTM, Faria NR, Nunes MRT, Cavalcanti LPG, Miyajima F., Clinical Infectious Diseases (2020), ciaa1038 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1038:.

Yellow fever transmission in non-human primates, Bahia, Northeastern Brazil.
Goes de Jesus J, Gräf T, Giovanetti M, Mares-Guia MA, Xavier J, Lima Maia M, Fonseca V, Fabri A, Santos RF, Pereira FM, Santos LFO, Silva LRO, Maia ZPG, Cerqueira JXG, Thèze J, Abade L, Cordeiro MCS, Torquato SSC, Santana EB, Silva NSJ, Dourado RSO, Alves AB, Guedes AS, Filho PMC, Faria NR, Campelo de Albuquerque CF, Abreu AL, Romano APM, Croda J, Said RFC, Cunha GM, Cerqueira JMF, Mello ALS, Filippis AMB, Alcantara LCJ., PLoS Negl Trop Dis (2020), 14(8): e0008405. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008405:14(8): e0008405.

Accelerating genomics-based surveillance for COVID-19 response in Africa.
Tessema SK, Inzaule SC, Christoffels A, Kebede Y, de Oliveira T, Ouma AEO, Happi CT, Nkengasong JN, Lancet Microbe (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(20)30117-8:.

A genomics network established to respond rapidly to public health threats in South Africa.
Msomi N, Mlisana K, Willianson C, Bhiman JN, Goedhals D, Engelbrecht S, Van Zyl G, Preiser W, Hardie D, Hsiao M, Mulder N, Martin D, Christoffels A, York D, Giandhari J, Wilkinson E, Pillay S, Tegally H, James SE, Kanzi A, Lessells RJ, de Oliveira T, Lancet Microbe (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(20)30116-6:.

Exposure to waste sites and their impact on health: a panel and geospatial analysis of nationally representative data from South Africa, 2008–2015.
Tomita A, Cuadros DF, Burns JK, Tanser F, Slotow R, Lancet Planetary Health (2020), 4: e223–34:.

KRISP VIDEOS

How a team of scientists worked tirelessly to help the COVID-19 response in Africa
By: Pillay S, Giandhari J, Tegally H, Wilkinson E, Chimukangara B, Lessells R, Mattison S, Moosa Y, Gazy I, Fish M, Singh L, Khanyile KS, Fonseca V, Giovanetti M, Alcantara LCJ, de Oliveira T

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