We performed spoligotyping and 24-locus mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit-variable-number tandem-repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing on M. tuberculosis culture-positive biopsy specimens collected from adults dying in a hospital in KwaZulu-Natal. Of 56 culture-positive samples genotyped, we detected mixed strains in five (9%) and clonal heterogeneity in an additional four (7%).

RESEARCH ARTICLE Logistic Regression Additive Model: Application to Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey Data W.J. Dlamini, S.F. Melesse and H.G. Mwambi Faculty of Science and Agriculture, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Zululand, Private Bag X1001, KwaDlangezwa, 3886, South Africa Collage of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, School of mathematics, statistics and comput...

BACKGROUND Recently, a global commitment has been made to expand access to antiretrovirals (ARVs) in the developing world. However, in many resource-constrained countries the number of individuals infected with HIV in need of treatment will far exceed the supply of ARVs, and only a limited number of health-care facilities (HCFs) will be available for ARV distribution. Deciding how to allocate t...

IZINDABA 318 A top-level think tank on KwaZulu-Natal's perplexing 'outbreak' of XDR-TB has recommended urgent inpatient point prevalence surveys and better screening of HIV-positive TB-symptomatic patients in order to better assess its country-wide extent. Speaking after provincial health, World Health Association (WHO) and Medical Research Council (MRC) officials met in Pietermaritzburg at the...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the cost and cost effectiveness nationally and for each province of a programme to reduce mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV in South Africa. METHODS A model developed to estimate cost and cost effectiveness of interventions in Hlabisa, KwaZulu-Natal, was modified and applied to each province. This model predicts a 37% reduction in paediatric HIV infections if sh...

OBJECTIVE To report the rates of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and the coverage of interventions designed to prevent such transmission, in KwaZulu-Natal. METHODS Mothers with infants aged ≤ 16 weeks and fathers or legal guardians with infants aged 4-8 weeks who, between May 2008 and April 2009, attended immunization clinics in six districts of ...

BACKGROUND In South Africa malaria is endemic in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the north-eastern areas of KwaZulu-Natal provinces. South Africa has set targets to eliminate malaria by 2018 and research into complementary vector control tools such as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is ongoing. It is important to understand community perceptions regarding malaria transmission and control interventio...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the outcome of the empowerment of rural women in relation to gender issues, power, and communication within the Zululand District of KwaZulu-Natal in SouthAfrica after implementation of a four-year Primary Health Care project in partnership with the Provincial Department of Health, and two Schools of Nursing at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and McMaster Un...

The electricity supply in South Africa is characterized by load-shedding. This study analyzed the determinants of multidimensional energy poverty index (MEPI) Africa. data, which were taken from 2019–2021 General Household Survey (GHS), using Tobit regression. results showed that between 2019 and 2021, use clean for cooking declined 85.97% to 85.68%, respectively, whereas water heating 87.24% 2...

cially in homogeneous, even-aged plantation scenarios. Airborne imagery has mainly been used for detection of individual trees using local maxima filtering, as point spread function and signal-to-noise ratio are smaller than with satellite-borne imagery. This led to the development of a novel approach to local maxima filtering for tree detection in plantation forests in KwaZulu-Natal, South Afr...