@ProfAbdoolKarim: 1. If cases continue 2 decline @ the current rate, the wave will end in +/- 10-11 days 2. How will we know it's the end? @nicd_sa uses 30 cases/100,000 in the past 7 days for the beginning/end of a wave
2. If the #Omicron wave does end in +/-10-11 days, it will have been just over half the length of previous waves: 1. Wave 1, 2, 3: About 75 days long 2. Wave 4 (Omicron) likely to be 40-50 days long
3. Can SA expect a next #COVID19 wave? @ProfAbdoolKarim: 1. Given the consistent 3 month gap we get in SA between waves, the 5th wave can be expected, if it is going to occur, in May this year 2. Of course, a new variant may throw this estimation out the window
4. How #Omicron took over: What proportion of genomes sequenced in SA = #Omicron?
7. @Netcare_Limited (private hospital group with 49 hospitals) published hospital admission stats in JAMA for the 1st 3 weeks of Wave 4 (#Omicron) and compared it to similar periods of Wave 1 (ancestral), 2 (Beta), 3 (#Delta): bit.ly/3G6mV5s
8. Netcare study: 1. % of #COVID19 patients presenting @ emergency rooms = admitted: 68-69% (Wave 1,2,3) vs 41% (Wave 4) 2. % of patients with acute respiratory conditions @ admission: 72-91% (Wave 1,2,3) vs 31% (Wave 4) 3. Admissions (Wave 4):
- Vaxxed: 24%
- Unvaxxed : 66%
9. Netcare study: 1. % of #COVID19 admissions needing oxygen: 74 - 82% (Wave 1,2,3) vs 17% (Wave 4) 2. % of #COVID admissions needing ventilation: 8-16% (Wave 1,2,3) vs. 1.6% (Wave 4)
10. Netcare study:
1. % of #COVID19 hospitalisations admitted to ICU: 30-42% (Wave 1,2,3) vs 18% (Wave 4) 2. Length of stay: 8-9 days (Wave 1,2,3) vs 3 days (Wave 4) 3. Deaths: 20-29% (Wave 1,2,3) vs 2.7% (Wave 4)
11. Does Netcare's data line up with admission data from other SA studies?
Yes: 1. This Lancet preprint also found smaller % of Omicron patients got admitted and they got less sick:
12. Have #Omicron hospitalisations peaked? (thanks @Dr_Groome + @tomtom_m 4 helping me with this): 1. Likely yes, because of the sustained decline in the 7 day moving average 2. But we need to wait another week or so to be sure. Why? (answer in next tweet)
13. Why do we need 2 wait another week or so 2 be sure that SA's #Omicron's hospitalisations have peaked? (so far, we've got data up until 1 Jan)
1. There are delays with the reporting of data 2. Right now, more 50+ people (who are more likely to be hospitalised) = testing +
1. Past 14 days:
- Daily deaths increased in all provinces
2. Past 7 days:
- Daily deaths decreased in all provinces except EC, FS, WC (biggest dip = GP, where SA's outbreak started + most time = lapsed since the start of infections)
15. In SA, trends in excess deaths are reassuring. We're not seeing the large rises in excess deaths during the #Omicron wave like we saw in past waves.
16. SA's data, so far, shows:
- The numbers of #Omicron hospitalisations + deaths = lower than in Wave 1,2,3
- The decrease in deaths (for #Omicron, compared to other waves) = more dramatic than the decline in admissions
17. Why is #Omicron leading 2 milder disease? @ProfAbdoolKarim: 1. We have accumulating evidence that shows Omicron causes little lung infection, so respiratory distress/multi-organ disease = uncommon 2. The main reason 4 the lower severity seems 2 be a less virulent virus
18. Studies that show #Omicron may cause less severe disease than other variants as infection is mostly confined to the upper airway (nose, throat, windpipe) and therefore causes less damage 2 the lungs via @EricTopol.
19. What are the other reasons for #Omicron causing milder disease? @ProfAbdoolKarim: 1. Vaccines show substantial impact in preventing severe disease (without boosters) 2. Prior natural immunity may also be making some contribution (SA's natural immunity = between 60-80%).
Here are the tables with the names of the provinces, I accidentally cut off the names when I cropped the images:
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[Thread] 1. BREAKING: Treasury has awarded @healthza emergency funds of R753 528-mil via section 16 of the Public Finance Management Act to help fill the gap of the #Trump administration's cutting of #HIV and #TB grants.
2. R590 407-mil of the total of R753 528-mil will go to provinces for #HIV service delivery.
R32 121-mil will go to @healthza to support the CCMDD programme (this delivers chronic meds such as #ARin communities so people don't have to line up at clinics)
3. R132-mil of the total of R753 528-mil will go to the SA Medical Research Council to support medical research (lots of US grants were lost, especially from the NIH, although it looks like some of cuts may now be recversed by the NIH. science.org/content/articl…
🧵1. BREAKING: The peer-reviewed results of the study of a 6-monthly jab, #lenacapavir, in which not a single of the 2134 women between 16-25 years who received the jab contracted #HIV, were released at #Aids2024.
2. Women often find it hard to adhere to daily #oralPrEP. In the Purpose 1 trial, 91.5% of women returned on time for their next #lenacapavir jab at 26 weeks and 92.8% at week 52.
3. Only 4 women out of 2134 (0.2%) who received #lenacapavir dropped out of the trial because of injection-site reactions.
[Thread] 12 things to know about the the proportion of pregnant women infected with #HIV from SA’s latest antenatal HIV survey. The survey is conducted by the @nicd_sa.
(Analysis of our 95-95-95 goals in my next thread later in Jan).
1/12
2. What is the antenatal #HIV survey?
1. It measures the % of HIV+ pregnant women between the ages of 15 + 49. 2. Only women using state pregnancy clinics take part. 3. The survey has been conducted each year between 1990-2015, then in 2017, 2019 +2022.
3. How many pregnant women between 15-49’s blood was tested for #HIV? 37 828 out of 40 542 collected samples.
- 37 7171 = Black African women
- 37 541 didn’t live with the dad of their child
- 35,635 of dads were 5 years+ older than moms (this makes them more likely to get HIV)
JUST IN [Thread]:
1.@healthza's Lesley Broomberg:
An extra #COVID19 booster jab for people of 18+ in SA will become available towards the end of JANUARY
- People of 50+ qualify for a 5th dose
- People of 18+ qualify for a 4th dose
2. Lesley Broomberg: Can you mix and match with additional boosters? Yes. You can choose whether you want a #JnJ or #Pfizer booster.
3. Lesley Broomberg:
Will teens of 12-17 qualify for boosters? Not at this stage. Why not? The #VMAC = not recommended booster doses for 12-17, based on an understanding that the protection provided by 2 #Pfizer doses = adequate, as 12-17 = @ low risk of severe #COVID19 illness
[Thread] #JoePhaahla:
- Genomic surveillance Network reported the detection of the new subvariant XBB.1.5 in SA of a sample of a patient tested on 22 Dec
- Details of the patient = not known, it was a random sample taken for testing
- XBB.1.5 = also common in US
2. XBB.1.5 = common in US
#JoePhaahla:
- 97%+ of #COVID19 cases worldwide = still #Omicron
- XBB.1.5 cases = no major change in hospitalisations or deaths
- Immunity of SAs (vax and natural immunity) = still strong, so that is why we haven't seen much change in terms of hospital admissions/deaths
Which APIs will Aspen use?
India's Serum Institute's
2. Why is it NB that an African company makes these jabs?
#Africa imports almost all its jabs. #COVID19 showed us this results in Africa being last in line to get vaccines during pandemics. The grant to Aspen is 1 of the 1st steps to change that.
3. What's the goal?
By 2040, the African Union wants #Africa to make 60% of the jabs the continent uses.
Why?
So that Africa is better equipped 2 respond 2 outbreaks (by developing the ability to make jabs + have technology in place to also make new jabs during pandemics).