Research Projects
The effect of exercise among COVID 19 patients at Thulamela municipality, Limpopo.
Study objectives
To determine risk factors of COVID 19, their challenges and to determine the effect of exercise.
The study population will be Tshilidzini & Donald Fraser hospital. The research will implement exercise intervention for 2 months. The aim will be to improve…
The South African COVID-19 Surgical Outcomes Study - A patient-centred research project piloting digital health at team (micro) level
Based on estimates by the COVIDSurg Collaborative,[1] large numbers of elective surgical procedures are cancelled during the disruption caused by the pandemic. It would take a median of 45 weeks to address if a country increases the usual surgical volume by 20% after the pandemic. It is crucial to…
DETECTION AND MONITORING OF SARS-CoV-2 RNA FRAGMENTS IN WASTEWATER USING A MALDI-TOF MASS SPECTROMETER
The purpose of this study is to develop an analytical test method for the detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments in sewer wastewater, using a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. With this technology, we intend to obtain test results within a few minutes, thus enabling us to confirm the…
Establishing a national COVID 19 wastewater and non-sewer based water quality survaillance programme
Surveillance of wastewater treatment plants offers an opportunity for near–real-time outbreak data and as an early warning for resurgence of the outbreak. To date, the wastewater-based epidemiology approach has been successfully piloted in developed countries where there is wide coverage of…
In vitro Molecular RNA-seq data for rapid diagonostic testing and validating RT-qPCR reference genes for studying respiratory specimens from Persons Under Investigation (PUIs), with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The SARS coronavirus (SCoV) appears to be zoonotic and to have originated in wild mammals in southern China. A coronavirus comprises single-stranded RNA inside a lipid envelope. Coronaviruses cause a substantial fraction of human colds and a number of common respiratory infections in other animals…
A 12-month Prospective study: A Self-reported outcome of South African population recovering from COVID-19 pandemic
The brief purpose of this study is to determine the patient-reported outcomes of participants recovering from COVID-19. This is a longitudinal study seeking to study the same population over a period of 12 months in intermittent timepoints. This study will collect data and assess the change in…
Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for Covid-19 Detection
The concept of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been used extensively for the detection of drug use patterns and disease incidence from a population perspective. Recently researchers have proposed SARS-CoV-2 sewage-monitoring plan as a form of an early warning system. It can have an…
Health facility-based observational studies to investigate interaction and overlap between SARS- CoV2, HIV-1 and M. tuberculosis infections (HIATUS)
This programme of projects is focused on understanding and providing information on the clinical presentation and pathogenesis of COVID-19 in the South African population.
Researchers in the HIATUS programme of four related projects will invite hospitalised COVID-19 patients to…
Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Endothelialitis
In the era of the global COVID-19 pandemic, questions remain about the pathophysiology, and the severity markers and potential treatment targets. In high HIV prevalence settings, the burden of COVID-19 is yet to be documented, and how these two pandemics will collide and interact remains to be seen…
WASTEWATER-BASED EPIDEMIOLOGY FOR COVID-19 DETECTION IN WASTEWATER
With the economic and practical limits of medical screening for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 coming sharply into focus worldwide, scientists are turning now to wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) as a potential tool for assessing and managing the pandemic. This approach is built on the knowledge that some…
Dietary habits and health outcomes of African populations during COVID-19 lockdown
The objective of this research is to comparatively assess the changes in dietary habits of various populations during the COVID-19 lockdown and to also determine the effect this has on people’s health. As a result of the lockdown situation to combat the spread of COVID-19, movements have been…
Surrogate Assisted Agent Based Modelling of Epidemics
There is a pressing need to rapidly simulate accurate complex conceptual models (Agent-based Models) for the spread of an epidemic within a population. Accurate agent-based models allow for thorough scenario planning allowing on to simulate the impact of extensive external factors. This research…