Nairobi — The global pandemic has pushed more than 55 million Africans into extreme poverty and reversed two decades of hard work in poverty reduction on the continent. The Economic Report on Africa for 2021 blamed the growing poverty on job losses, reduced income and the inability of households to manage the risks In a 150-page…
It was a family tragedy that first led her to consider nursing as a career.A relative in her native African country died while in an under-staffed hospital, Addae said, with only one nurse for every 50 patients.“I vowed to become a nurse to care for the sick,” said Addae, a devout Christian. “I am a woman of faith.”Earning a degree while raising four young children requires much, she said. So, she often turns to one of her favorite Bible passages.“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. When the going gets tough, I just talk to my God.”Addae’s perseverance of handling both motherhood times four and undergraduate classes drew both the attention of and praise of Miami University Hamilton professors.“I remember bawling my eyes out one day when I was having a conversation with Miami Professor Dr. Eyad Mussallem because I thought I was going to fail a course,” Addae said. “He encouraged and believed in me when I felt I couldn’t find the strength to carry on.”Addae “is an excellent student who is always willing to volunteer to help other students and goes above and beyond what is asked of her in the classroom,” said Tricia Neu, assistant professor of Nursing and director of the FNP track. “We are so excited to have her in our grad program.”Addae wasn’t surprised by the academic assistance or high quality of it regional nursing professors.“I decided to enroll at Miami University Regionals because of its outstanding academic reputation.”And now she is also setting her sights on smashing a gender stereotype held by some family members in her old country.“Becoming a nurse practitioner will allow me to become the first woman among my siblings to pursue (an advanced degree),” she said. “I’ll break the stereotype that only men can achieve higher academic success in my family.”
Nine long months have passed since the start of the slow-motion coup in Tunisia, a country that, until recently, offered one of the best hopes for democratization in the Middle East. After shuttering the parliament with tanks in July, President Kais Saied has suspended the constitution and dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council. In perhaps the most disturbing…
The antiviral pills, plentiful in the United States, are scarce overseas. Health groups and the White House want to expand access but face obstacles that evoke the H.I.V. epidemic. WASHINGTON — A devastating virus was laying waste to nations that lacked medicines available to Americans. The pills were patented and pricey. Poor countries lacked refrigeration…
Ghana’s Tourism Authority is encouraging all Pan-African people to return to the African Continent in 2019. Follow #YearOfReturn on Instagram and Facebook for details about upcoming events and to build excitement around the initiative.
27 April is Freedom Day: a public holiday in South Africa commemorating the first democratic elections in 1994. Read all
Harvard University is committing $100 million to study and redress its ties to slavery, the university’s president announced Tuesday, and with that money will create an endowed “Legacy of Slavery Fund,” which will continue researching and memorializing that history, working with descendants of Black and Native American people enslaved at Harvard, as well as their…
1. Widespread underlying SARS-CoV‑2 seropositivity was observed in Gauteng province, South Africa, before the omicron wave.
2. Epidemiologic data demonstrated a decoupling of hospitalizations and deaths from infections while omicron was circulating.
Evidence Rating Level: 2 (Good)
Study Rundown: The Omicron variant was first identified in November 2021 in Gauteng province, South Africa, and was designated as a variant of concern due to its predicted high transmissibility and its potential to evade immunity from neutralizing antibodies induced by vaccination or natural infection with wild-type virus. The omicron variant outcompeted the delta variant in Gauteng and was responsible for 98.4% of the cases sequenced in South Africa in December 2021, and a prior population-wide seroepidemiologic study demonstrate that 19.1% of the population was seropositive for Covid-19. However, there is a gap in knowledge as to understanding the seroprevalence of Covid-19 before the omicron wave. This study found that there was widespread underlying SARS-CoV‑2 seropositivity in Gauteng before the omicron-dominant wave of Covid-19. This study was limited by changes in the frequency of testing over time which limited head-to-head comparisons of case numbers across waves, and the fourth omicron wave had not fully subsided at the time of this analysis, which will result in a lag in the reporting of data such as hospitalizations and deaths attributable to this wave. Nevertheless, these study’s findings are significant, as they demonstrate that there was widespread seropositivity of Covid-19 in Gauteng prior to the omicron wave and that there was a decoupling of hospitalizations and deaths from infections while omicron was circulating.
Click to read the study in NEJM
Relevant Reading: Omicron — Decoupling Infection from Severe Disease
In-Depth [seroepidemiologic survey]: This seroepidemiologic survey was conducted from October to December 2021 in Gauteng province, South Africa, to determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV‑2 IgG, obtaining samples from 7010 participants, of whom 18.8% had received a Covid-19 vaccine. Patients who live in the Gauteng province and were able to provide written informed consent were eligible for the study. Patients who resided outside of the studied province or declined to participate were excluded from the study. The primary outcome measured was seroprevalence measured with dried-blood-spot samples and tested for IgG against SARS-CoV‑2 spike protein and nucleocapsid protein. Outcomes in the primary analysis were assessed via unadjusted, univariable analyses for each risk factor with generalized linear models with a log link to estimate risk ratios. Based on the analysis, the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV‑2 IgG ranged from 56.2% among children younger than 12 years (95% Confidence Interval [CI], 52.6 to 59.7) to 79.7% among adults older than 50 years of age (95% CI, 77.6 to 81.5). 93.1% of vaccinated participants were seropositive for SARS-CoV‑2 while 68.4% of unvaccinated participants were seropositive. Epidemiologic data also demonstrated that the incidence of Covid-19 infection increased and subsequently decreased more rapidly during the omicron wave than it had during the three previous waves. The incidence of infection was decoupled from the incidences of hospitalization, recorded death, and excess death during the fourth wave, as compared to the proportions seen in the previous three waves. Overall, this study demonstrated that there was widespread Covid-19 seropositivity in the Gauteng province of South Africa before the omicron wave, showing that there was a decoupling of hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 infections while the omicron variant was still circulating.
Image: PD
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From Andrew Morson, New Orleans, LA, US
I already raved about Sidi Bou Said, the Santorini