| 1. |
- Dornelas, M., et al.
(author)
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BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene
- 2018
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In: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238. ; 27:7, s. 760-786
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Main types of variables included: The database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record. Spatial location and grain: BioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km(2) (158 cm(2)) to 100 km(2) (1,000,000,000,000 cm(2)). Time period and grainBio: TIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year. Major taxa and level of measurement: BioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates.
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| 2. |
- Underwood, J, et al.
(author)
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Validation of a Novel Multivariate Method of Defining HIV-Associated Cognitive Impairment
- 2019
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In: Open forum infectious diseases. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2328-8957. ; 6:6, s. ofz198-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundThe optimum method of defining cognitive impairment in virally suppressed people living with HIV is unknown. We evaluated the relationships between cognitive impairment, including using a novel multivariate method (NMM), patient– reported outcome measures (PROMs), and neuroimaging markers of brain structure across 3 cohorts.MethodsDifferences in the prevalence of cognitive impairment, PROMs, and neuroimaging data from the COBRA, CHARTER, and POPPY cohorts (total n = 908) were determined between HIV-positive participants with and without cognitive impairment defined using the HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), global deficit score (GDS), and NMM criteria.ResultsThe prevalence of cognitive impairment varied by up to 27% between methods used to define impairment (eg, 48% for HAND vs 21% for NMM in the CHARTER study). Associations between objective cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive complaints generally were weak. Physical and mental health summary scores (SF-36) were lowest for NMM-defined impairment (P < .05).There were no differences in brain volumes or cortical thickness between participants with and without cognitive impairment defined using the HAND and GDS measures. In contrast, those identified with cognitive impairment by the NMM had reduced mean cortical thickness in both hemispheres (P < .05), as well as smaller brain volumes (P < .01). The associations with measures of white matter microstructure and brain-predicted age generally were weaker.ConclusionDifferent methods of defining cognitive impairment identify different people with varying symptomatology and measures of brain injury. Overall, NMM-defined impairment was associated with most neuroimaging abnormalities and poorer self-reported health status. This may be due to the statistical advantage of using a multivariate approach.
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| 5. |
- Groome, Michelle J., et al.
(author)
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Effectiveness of monovalent human rotavirus vaccine against admission to hospital for acute rotavirus diarrhoea in South African children : a case-control study
- 2014
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In: The Lancet - Infectious diseases. - : Elsevier. - 1473-3099 .- 1474-4457. ; 14:11, s. 1096-1104
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background The effectiveness of the rotavirus vaccine under conditions of routine use in an African setting with a high prevalence of HIV infection needs to be established. We assessed the vaccine effectiveness of monovalent human rotavirus vaccine in preventing admission to hospital for acute rotavirus diarrhoea, after its introduction at age 6 and 14 weeks into South Africa's national immunisation programme. Methods This case-control study was done at seven hospitals in South Africa between April 19,2010, and Oct 31,2012. The hospitals were located in a range of urban, pen-urban, and rural settings, with varying rates of population HIV infection. Cases were children aged from 18 weeks to 23 months who were age-eligible to have received at least one dose of the human rotavirus vaccine (ie, those born after June 14,2009) admitted to hospital with laboratory-confirmed acute rotavirus diarrhoea, and the primary control group was children admitted to hospital with diarrhoea testing negative for rotavirus. A second control group comprised children admitted to a subset of three of the seven hospitals with respiratory illness. The primary endpoint was adjusted vaccine effectiveness (1 adjusted odds ratio x100%) in children aged from 18 weeks to 23 months and was calculated by unconditional logistic regression. This study is registered on the South African National Clinical Trial Register, number DOH-27-0512-3247. Findings Of 540 rotavirus-positive cases, 278 children (52%) received two doses, 126 (23%) one dose, and 136 (25%) no doses of human rotavirus vaccine, compared with 1434 rotavirus-negative controls of whom 856 (60%) received two doses, 334 (23%) one dose, and 244 (17%) no doses. Adjusted vaccine effectiveness using rotavirus-negative controls was 57% (95% CI 40-68) for two doses and 40% (16-57) for one dose; estimates were similar when respiratory controls were used as the control group. Adjusted vaccine effectiveness for two doses was similar between age groups 18 weeks-11 months (54%, 95% CI 32-68) and 12-23 months (61%, 35-77), and was similar in HIV-exposed-uninfected (64%, 95% CI 34-80) and HIV-unexposed-uninfected children (54%, 31-69). Interpretation Human rotavirus vaccine provided sustained protection against admission to hospital for acute rotavirus diarrhoea during the first and second years of life. This finding is encouraging and establishes the public health value of rotavirus vaccine in an African setting, especially as rotavirus vaccines are introduced into an increasing number of African countries.
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| 6. |
- Ayeni, Oluwatosin A., et al.
(author)
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Mortality in children aged <5 years with severe acute respiratory illness in a high HIV-prevalence urban and rural areas of South Africa, 2009–2013
- 2021
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 16:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) is an important cause of mortality in young children, especially in children living with HIV infection. Disparities in SARI death in children aged <5 years exist in urban and rural areas.Objective: To compare the factors associated with in-hospital death among children aged <5 years hospitalized with SARI in an urban vs. a rural setting in South Africa from 2009–2013.Methods: Data were collected from hospitalized children with SARI in one urban and two rural sentinel surveillance hospitals. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were tested for ten respiratory viruses and blood for pneumococcal DNA using polymerase chain reaction. We used multivariable logistic regression to identify patient and clinical characteristics associated with in-hospital death.Results: From 2009 through 2013, 5,297 children aged <5 years with SARI-associated hospital admission were enrolled; 3,811 (72%) in the urban and 1,486 (28%) in the rural hospitals. In-hospital case-fatality proportion (CFP) was higher in the rural hospitals (6.9%) than the urban hospital (1.3%, p<0.001), and among HIV-infected than the HIV-uninfected children (9.6% vs. 1.6%, p<0.001). In the urban hospital, HIV infection (odds ratio (OR):11.4, 95% confidence interval (CI):5.4–24.1) and presence of any other underlying illness (OR: 3.0, 95% CI: 1.0–9.2) were the only factors independently associated with death. In the rural hospitals, HIV infection (OR: 4.1, 95% CI: 2.3–7.1) and age <1 year (OR: 3.7, 95% CI: 1.9–7.2) were independently associated with death, whereas duration of hospitalization ≥5 days (OR: 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3–0.8) and any respiratory virus detection (OR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.3–0.8) were negatively associated with death.Conclusion: We found that the case-fatality proportion was substantially higher among children admitted to rural hospitals and HIV infected children with SARI in South Africa. While efforts to prevent and treat HIV infections in children may reduce SARI deaths, further efforts to address health care inequality in rural populations are needed.
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| 7. |
- Cohen, Adam L, et al.
(author)
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Parainfluenza Virus Infection Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Infected and HIV-Uninfected Children and Adults Hospitalized for Severe Acute Respiratory Illness in South Africa, 2009-2014
- 2015
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In: Open forum infectious diseases. - : Oxford University Press. - 2328-8957. ; 2:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background. Parainfluenza virus (PIV) is a common cause of acute respiratory tract infections, but little is known about PIV infection in children and adults in Africa, especially in settings where human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence is high. Methods. We conducted active, prospective sentinel surveillance for children and adults hospitalized with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) from 2009 to 2014 in South Africa. We enrolled controls (outpatients without febrile or respiratory illness) to calculate the attributable fraction for PIV infection. Respiratory specimens were tested by multiplex real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assay for parainfluenza types 1, 2, and 3. Results. Of 18 282 SARI cases enrolled, 1188 (6.5%) tested positive for any PIV type: 230 (19.4%) were type 1; 168 (14.1%) were type 2; 762 (64.1%) were type 3; and 28 (2.4%) had coinfection with 2 PIV types. After adjusting for age, HIV serostatus, and respiratory viral coinfection, the attributable fraction for PIV was 65.6% (95% CI [ confidence interval], 47.1-77.7); PIV contributed to SARI among HIV-infected and -uninfected children < 5 years of age and among individuals infected with PIV types 1 and 3. The observed overall incidence of PIV-associated SARI was 38 (95% CI, 36-39) cases per 100 000 population and was highest in children < 1 year of age (925 [ 95% CI, 864-989] cases per 100 000 population). Compared with persons without HIV, persons with HIV had an increased relative risk of PIV hospitalization (9.4; 95% CI, 8.5-10.3). Conclusions. Parainfluenza virus causes substantial severe respiratory disease in South Africa among children < 5 years of age, especially those that are infected with HIV.
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| 8. |
- Carr, Victoria R., et al.
(author)
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Abundance and diversity of resistomes differ between healthy human oral cavities and gut
- 2020
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In: Nature Communications. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The global threat of antimicrobial resistance has driven the use of high-throughput sequencing techniques to monitor the profile of resistance genes, known as the resistome, in microbial populations. The human oral cavity contains a poorly explored reservoir of these genes. Here we analyse and compare the resistome profiles of 788 oral cavities worldwide with paired stool metagenomes. We find country and body site-specific differences in the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes, classes and mechanisms in oral and stool samples. Within individuals, the highest abundances of antimicrobial resistance genes are found in the oral cavity, but the oral cavity contains a lower diversity of resistance genes compared to the gut. Additionally, co-occurrence analysis shows contrasting ARG-species associations between saliva and stool samples. Maintenance and persistence of antimicrobial resistance is likely to vary across different body sites. Thus, we highlight the importance of characterising the resistome across body sites to uncover the antimicrobial resistance potential in the human body. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a global health threat. Here, the authors analyse the oral and gut resistomes from metagenomes of diverse populations and find that the oral resistome harbours higher abundance but lower diversity of antimicrobial resistance genes than the gut resistome.
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| 9. |
- Cohen, Cheryl, et al.
(author)
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Epidemiology of Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in HIV-Exposed Uninfected Infants
- 2016
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In: Pediatrics. - : American Academy of Pediatrics. - 0031-4005 .- 1098-4275. ; 137:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Increased morbidity and mortality from lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) has been suggested in HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) children; however, the contribution of respiratory viruses is unclear. We studied the epidemiology of LRTI hospitalization in HIV-unexposed uninfected (HUU) and HEU infants aged <6 months in South Africa. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled hospitalized infants with LRTI from 4 provinces from 2010 to 2013. Using polymerase chain reaction, nasopharyngeal aspirates were tested for 10 viruses and blood for pneumococcal DNA. Incidence for 2010-2011 was estimated at 1 site with population denominators. RESULTS: We enrolled 3537 children aged <6 months. HIV infection and exposure status were determined for 2507 (71%), of whom 211 (8%) were HIV infected, 850 (34%) were HEU, and 1446 (58%) were HUU. The annual incidence of LRTI was elevated in HEU (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3-1.5) and HIV infected (IRR 3.8; 95% CI 3.3-4.5), compared with HUU infants. Relative incidence estimates were greater in HEU than HUU, for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV; IRR 1.4; 95% CI 1.3-1.6) and human metapneumovirus-associated (IRR 1.4; 95% CI 1.1-2.0) LRTI, with a similar trend observed for influenza (IRR 1.2; 95% CI 0.8-1.8). HEU infants overall, and those with RSV-associated LRTI had greater odds (odds ratio 2.1, 95% CI 1.1-3.8, and 12.2, 95% CI 1.7-infinity, respectively) of death than HUU. CONCLUSIONS: HEU infants were more likely to be hospitalized and to die in-hospital than HUU, including specifically due to RSV. This group should be considered a high-risk group for LRTI.
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| 10. |
- Cohen, Cheryl, et al.
(author)
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Epidemiology of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) among Adults and Children Aged >= 5 Years in a High HIV-Prevalence Setting, 2009-2012
- 2015
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 10:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective There are few published studies describing severe acute respiratory illness ( SARI) epidemiology amongst older children and adults from high HIV-prevalence settings. We aimed to describe SARI epidemiology amongst individuals aged >= 5 years in South Africa. Methods We conducted prospective surveillance for individuals with SARI from 2009-2012. Using polymerase chain reaction, respiratory samples were tested for ten viruses, and blood for pneumococcal DNA. Cumulative annual SARI incidence was estimated at one site with population denominators. Findings We enrolled 7193 individuals, 9% (621/7067) tested positive for influenza and 9%(600/6519) for pneumococcus. HIV-prevalence was 74% (4663/6334). Among HIV-infected individuals with available data, 41% of 2629 were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). The annual SARI hospitalisation incidence ranged from 325-617/100,000 population. HIV-infected individuals experienced a 13-19 times greater SARI incidence than HIV-uninfected individuals (p<0.001). On multivariable analysis, compared to HIV-uninfected individuals, HIV-infected individuals were more likely to be receiving tuberculosis treatment (odds ratio (OR): 1.7; 95% CI:1.1-2.7), have pneumococcal infection (OR 2.4; 95% CI: 1.7-3.3) be hospitalised for >7 days rather than <2 days (OR1.7; 95% CI: 1.2-2.2) and had a higher case-fatality ratio (8% vs 5%; OR1.7; 95% CI: 1.2-2.3), but were less likely to be infected with influenza (OR 0.6; 95% CI: 0.5-0.8). On multivariable analysis, independent risk indicators associated with death included HIV infection (OR 1.8; 95% CI: 1.3-2.4), increasing age-group, receiving mechanical ventilation (OR 6.5; 95% CI: 1.3-32.0) and supplemental-oxygen therapy (OR 2.6; 95% CI: 2.1-3.2). Conclusion The burden of hospitalized SARI amongst individuals aged >= 5 years is high in South Africa. HIV-infected individuals are the most important risk group for SARI hospitalization and mortality in this setting.
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