The national institute for communicable diseases (NICD)
Is a resource of knowledge and expertise in regionally relevant communicable diseases to the South African Government, to SADC countries and the African continent.
The NICD offers a variety of training programmes in the different areas of public health, including Field Epidemiology Training
The Communicable diseases communiqué is published on a monthly basis for the purpose of providing up-to-date information on communicable diseases in South Africa.
Developing young scientists as drivers of growth and innovation is vital in South Africa. This Youth Month we showcase some of our budding scientists.
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LATEST SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
The development of HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) has previously been shown to be associated with viral evolution and high levels of genetic diversity in the HIV envelope (Env) glycoprotein. However, few studies have examined Env evolution in those who fail to develop neutralization breadth in order to assess whether bNAbs result from distinct evolutionary pathways. Env evolution was compared in eight HIV-1-infected participants who developed bNAbs to six donors with similar viral loads who did not develop bNAbs over three years of infection. This analysis suggests that highly targeted viral evolution rather than overall envelope diversity is associated with neutralization breadth, with implications for the development of sequential and cocktail immunization strategies.
HIV-1 has been shown to evolve independently in different anatomical compartments, but studies in the female genital tract have been inconclusive. Here, we examined evidence of compartmentalization using HIV-1 subtype C envelope (Env) glycoprotein genes (gp160) obtained from matched cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) and plasma samples over 2 to 3 years of infection and show that there is both intermittent and persistent compartmentalization of HIV-1 in the female genital tract. Our data indicate that, in some women, HIV-1 populations within the genital tract can have Env genetic features that differ from those of viruses in plasma, which could impact the sensitivity of viruses in the genital tract to vaginal microbicides and vaccine-elicited antibodies.
The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of risk factors associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in black adult South Africans and to estimate the size of the associated risks
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