Exploring the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on informal settlements in Tshwane Gauteng Province,South Africa

ABSTRACT

Informal settlements remain a public health problem as they lack basic infrastructure. Furthermore, it is challenging to enforce public health regulations and protocols to prevent the spread of infection during a pandemic. This paper was set out to explore the impact of lockdown during COVID-19 among people living in informal settlements. An exploratory qualitative design was utilised. Purposive sampling was used to select research participants. In-depth one-to-one interviews were held involving 30 research participants through a WhatsApp online telephone platform. A thematic approach underpinned by the four stages of data analysis in interpretive phenomenological analysis was utilised to analyse the data. The study found that during the the research participants were affected by lack of space to practice social distancing, over-burdened infrastructure, lack of savings, loss of income and shortage of food, hunger and diseases, anxiety and depression and poor access to education. There is a need to prioritise the needs of informal settlers and endeavour to establish permanent homes. Health promotion and communication initiatives and pandemic awareness programmes are needed to mitigate the impact of lockdown during a pandemic in informal settlements.     

Extended HLA profile of an inbred isolate: The Schmiedeleut Hutterites of South Dakota

HLA-A, -B, -C, -DR, and -DQ typings of the Schmiedeleut Hutterites of South Dakota were collected as part of an ongoing genetic-epidemiologic study of HLA and fertility. A total of 1,082 individuals, including 852 married adults representative of the reproductive population of this isolate, were characterized for five-locus HLA haplotypes. HLA-A1, A2, A3, and A24 accounted for 75% of observed HLA-A alleles and HLA-B27, B35, B51, and B62 accounted for 55% of observed HLA-B alleles. S-leut Hutterites are derived from 68 or fewer ancestors. However, only 48 ancestral HLA haplotypes were observed and nine of these accounted for over 52% of the observed haplotypes. Measures of two-locus linkage disequilibrium derived from these haplotypes indicated that one-third to half of the observed HLA-A/B, B/DR, and A/DR allele combinations exhibited highly statistically significant linkage disequilibrium. Allele and haplotype frequencies did not differ between males and females. Recombination rates of 0.004% and 0.005% between HLA-A and -C and between HLA-B and -DR, respectively, were observed. This HLA profile points out a paucity of HLA alleles and haplotypes in this population and marked linkage disequilibrium among the HLA alleles that are present. © Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

New type of spinocerebellar degeneration syndrome in a northern Swedish population

A follow-up investigation of 24 patients with hereditary spasticity in a geographically isolated northern Swedish population, first examined by Böök (1953), was performed. Fifteen of them were dead. During the period from 1950–1972 five new cases of spastic syndromes were diagnosed in this population. The patterns of clinical symptoms and the genetic associations between the new and 24 previously reported patients with spastic syndromes were analyzed. Three of the five new cases had a specific syndrome. This starts in the first years of life with ataxia, which is followed by dysarthria, spasticity and jerky intention tremor. Initially the patients are mentally normal, but there seems to be slight mental deterioration through the years. The disorder is a progressive spinocerebellar degeneration with autosomal recessive inheritance.     

Molecular and biological analysis of echovirus 9 strain isolated from a diabetic child

The full-length infectious cDNA clone was constructed and sequenced from the strain DM of echovirus 9, which was recently isolated from a 6-week-old child at the clinical onset of type 1 diabetes. Parallel with the isolate DM, the full-length infectious cDNA clone of the prototype strain echovirus 9 Barty (Barty-INF), was constructed and sequenced. Genetic relationships of the sequenced echo 9 viruses to the other members of the human enterovirus type B species were studied by phylogenetic analyses. Comparison of capsid protein sequences showed that the isolate DM was closely related to both prototype strains: Hill and Barty-INF. The only exception was the inner capsid protein VP4 where serotype specificity was not evident and the isolate DM clustered with the strain Hill and the strain Barty-INF with echovirus 30 Bastianni. Likewise, the nonstructural protein coding region, P2P3, of isolate DM was more similar to strain Hill than to strain Barty-INF. However, like echovirus 9 Barty, the isolate DM contained the RGD-motif in the carboxy terminus of capsid protein VP1. By blocking experiments using an RGD-containing peptide and a polyclonal rabbit antiserum to the alpha(v)beta(3)-integrin, it was shown that this molecule works as a cellular receptor for isolate DM. By using primary human islets, it was shown that the isolate DM is capable of infecting insulin-producing beta-cells like the corresponding prototype strains did. However, only isolate DM was clearly cytolytic for beta-cells. The infectious clones that were made allow further investigations of the molecular features responsible for the diabetogenicity of the isolate DM.     

Identification of a new genotype H wild-type mumps virus strain and its molecular relatedness to other virulent and attenuated strains

A single clinical isolate of mumps virus designated 88-1961 was obtained from a patient hospitalized with a clinical history of upper respiratory tract infection, parotitis, severe headache, fever and lymphadenopathy. We have sequenced the full-length genome of 88-1961 and compared it against all available full-length sequences of mumps virus. Based upon its nucleotide sequence of the SH gene 88-1961 was identified as a genotype H mumps strain. The overall extent of nucleotide and amino acid differences between each individual gene and protein of 88-1961 and the full-length mumps samples showed that the missense to silent ratios were unevenly distributed. Upon evaluation of the consensus sequence of 88-1961, four positions were found to be clearly heterogeneous at the nucleotide level (NP 315C/T, NP 318C/T, F 271A/C, and HN 855C/T). Sequence analysis revealed that the amino acid sequences for the NP, M, and the L protein were the most conserved, whereas the SH protein exhibited the highest variability among the compared mumps genotypes A, B, and G. No identifying molecular patterns in the non-coding (intergenic) or coding regions of 88-1961 were found when we compared it against relatively virulent (Urabe AM9 B, Glouc1/UK96, 87-1004 and 87-1005) and non-virulent mumps strains (Jeryl Lynn and all Urabe Am9 A substrains).     

Quality evaluation of rice bran protein isolate-based weaning food for preschoolers

Agro–industrial waste ‘rice bran’ was stabilized and the extracted protein isolates were used as ingredients to make nutritive complimentary food for the growing infants. The formulation processed through drum drying and the starchy ingredients were pregelatinized to reduce bulk in the prepared meal and facilitate spoon-feeding. The formulations had uniform texture, light golden color and good paste consistency. Nutrient composition was good enough to meet standards for supplementary infant foods. Caloric value remained up to 416 kcal/100 g with spoonable viscosity and 80.90–84.45% in vitro digestibility. A single meal could substantially contribute to the daily essential amino acid requirement. The formulation had good acceptability during a short-term infant-feeding trial. The present study can provide practical guideline for manufacturers as well as the nutritionist for the use of an economical and nutritive formulation for young children.     

Properties of Cast Films Made from Different Ratios of Whey Protein Isolate,Hydrolysed Whey Protein Isolate and Glycerol

Whey protein isolate (WPI)-based cast films are very brittle, due to several chain interactions caused by a large amount of different functional groups. In order to overcome film brittleness, plasticizers, like glycerol, are commonly used. As a result of adding plasticizers, the free volume between the polymer chains increases, leading to higher permeability values. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of partially substituting glycerol by hydrolysed whey protein isolate (h-WPI) in WPI-based cast films on their mechanical, optical and barrier properties. As recently published by the author, it is proven that increasing the h-WPI content in WPI-based films at constant glycerol concentrations significantly increases film flexibility, while maintaining the barrier properties. The present study considered these facts in order to increase the barrier performance, while maintaining film flexibility. Therefore glycerol was partially replaced by h-WPI in WPI-based cast films. The results clearly indicate that partially replacing glycerol by h-WPI reduces the oxygen permeability and the water vapor transmission rate, while the mechanical properties did not change significantly. Thus, film flexibility was maintained, even though the plasticizer concentration was decreased.     

Isolation,identification, and pathogenicity of O142 avian pathogenic Escherichia coli causing black proventriculus and septicemia in broiler breeders

Avian colibacillosis, characterized by black proventriculus and caused by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) with an uncommon O142 serogroup, was diagnosed in young broiler breeders. Colonization and persistence assays performed in 7-day-old broilers showed that the bacterial load of the APEC 4d/9-1 O142 proventricular isolate in the lung was about 10-fold higher than that of the APEC 4d/9-1 O142 heart blood isolate (P < 0.01), and about 100-fold higher in the heart blood, livers, spleens, kidneys, and proventriculi of inoculated broilers (P < 0.001). When 32 common virulence genes of APEC were tested, the two isolates had nearly identical profiles, except that only the APEC 4d/9-1 O142 proventricular isolate carried the feoB gene. Furthermore, 100% mortality was observed in both 1-day-old Arbor Acres (AA) broilers and 1-day-old specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens inoculated with 10⁶ colony-forming units of the APEC 4d/9-1 O142 proventricular isolate. However, black proventriculus was only observed in the dead AA broilers, consistent with the clinical occurrence of the disease. This implies that the black proventriculi seen in the dead birds, caused by the APEC 4d/9-1 O142 proventricular isolate, was breed-specific. Both the APEC 4d/9-1 O142 proventricular and heart blood isolates belong to phylogroup B2. However, the former was assigned to ST131 and the latter to ST2704 with multilocus sequence typing, demonstrating the genetic heterogeneity of these two bacterial isolates, although they were derived from the same dead broiler. These results suggest that the O142 APEC isolate was the main pathogenic agent for black proventriculi in 7-day-old broiler breeders.     

2015-2017年荆州市中心医院临床分离菌分布及耐药性分析

深入调查2015-2017年荆州市中心医院临床分离菌的分布及对临床常用抗菌药物的耐药性,为临床合理用药提供依据。菌株抗菌药物敏感性试验采用自动化仪器法或纸片扩散法。回顾性分析我院连续3年临床菌株药敏数据,结果判读根据2017年CLSI。3年我院临床分离株共11049株,其中革兰阳性菌和革兰阴性菌分别为30.2%和69.8%。耐甲氧西林株金黄色葡萄球菌(MRSA)和凝固酶阴性葡萄球菌(MRCNS)的平均检出率分别为33.4%和75.6%。MRSA对复方磺胺甲噁唑敏感率92%~95.9%;MRCNS对利福平敏感率90.7%~90.8%,耐甲氧西林株(MRSA和MRCNS)对其他抗菌药的耐药率均高。未发现万古霉素耐药株。肠球菌属中屎肠球菌较粪肠球菌对多数测试抗菌药物(除四环素外)的耐药率均高,两者中均未检出万古霉素耐药株。肺炎链球菌非脑膜炎株儿童株中青霉素敏感株逐年下降,中介株的检出率有所上升。大肠埃希菌对碳青霉烯类抗生素仍高度敏感。肺炎克雷伯菌对亚胺培南耐药率从1.1%上升到4.5%,对美罗培南耐药率从1%上升到3.8%,耐药率稳步上升。鲍曼不动杆菌对亚胺培南的耐药率从65.5%升高到80.3%,对美罗培南的耐药率从65.4%升高到80.3%。铜绿假单胞菌对亚胺培南耐药率从13.1%升高到21.2% ,对美罗培耐药率从8.3%升高到20.1%。临床分离的耐药菌呈增长趋势,其中碳青霉烯类耐药肺炎克雷伯菌增长趋势明显,应持续进行细菌耐药监测,加强与临床和院感沟通,共同促进院感控制和规范合理用药。     

温莪术内生真菌的分离及其抗菌活性的初步研究

 目的研究温莪术内生真菌的种群组成及其代谢产物抗菌活性。方法采用内生菌常规分离法对健康温莪术植株体内的内生真菌进行了分离鉴定。以大肠杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、链球菌、沙门氏菌、巴氏杆菌为测试菌种,对温莪术根、茎、叶中分离的56株内生真菌进行抗菌活性筛选。结果经初步鉴定,这些内生真菌为5目、6科、24属;抑菌实验表明,56株内生真菌中有39株对5种测试菌均有不同程度的抑制作用。结论温莪术植物含有丰富多样的内生真菌,且多数内生真菌都表现为较高的抑菌活性。