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Diarrhoea is a recognised complication of HIV-infection, yet there are limited local aetiological data in this high-risk group. These data are important for informing public health interventions and updating diagnostic and treatment guidelines. This study aimed to determine the pathogenic causes of diarrhoeal admissions in people living with HIV (PLHIV) compared to hospital controls between July 2018 and November 2021. Admitted diarrhoeal cases (n = 243) and non-diarrhoeal hospital controls (n = 101) ≥5 years of age were enrolled at Kalafong, Mapulaneng and Matikwana hospitals. Stool specimens/rectal swabs were collected and pathogen screening was performed on multiple platforms. Differences in pathogen detections between cases and controls, stratified by HIV status, were investigated. The majority (n = 164, 67.5%) of enrolled diarrhoeal cases with known HIV status were HIV-infected. Pathogens could be detected in 66.3% (n = 228) of specimens, with significantly higher detection in cases compared to controls (72.8% versus 50.5%, p<0.001). Amongst PLHIV, prevalence of Cystoisospora spp. was significantly higher in cases than controls (17.7% versus 0.0%, p = 0.028), while Schistosoma was detected more often in controls than cases (17.4% versus 2.4%, p = 0.009). Amongst the HIV-uninfected participants, prevalence of Shigella spp., Salmonella spp. and Helicobacter pylori was significantly higher in cases compared to controls (36.7% versus 12.0%, p = 0.002; 11.4% versus 0.0%, p = 0.012; 10.1% versus 0.0%, p = 0.023). Diarrhoeal aetiology differed by HIV status, with Shigella spp. (36.7%) and Salmonella spp. (11.4%) having the highest prevalence amongst HIV-uninfected cases and Shigella spp. (18.3%), Cystoisospora (17.7%), and Cryptosporidium spp. (15.9%) having the highest prevalence in cases amongst PLHIV. These differences should be considered for the development of diagnostic and treatment guidelines.

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BACKGROUND: Stool samples submitted for diagnostic testing represent a proportion of diarrhoeal cases seeking healthcare, and an even smaller proportion of diarrhoeal cases in the community. Despite this, surveillance relies heavily on these laboratory results. This study described diarrhoeal diagnostic practices and aetiological agents of diarrhoea in patients admitted to three South African public hospitals in order to understand biases in surveillance data, and inform guidelines, diagnostic and laboratory practices to improve clinical management. METHODS: A doctors' survey was conducted to determine sample submission, diarrhoeal treatment and barriers to submitting samples for testing. Results for all samples submitted for routine diagnostics were obtained from the NHLS Central Data Warehouse. An enhanced surveillance study enrolled patients with acute diarrhoea at the same hospitals over the same period. Differences between routine culture results and molecular testing from the surveillance study were described. RESULTS: Stool samples were seldom submitted for diagnostic testing (median of 10% of admitted cases). Current diagnostic guidelines were not useful, hence most doctors (75.1%) relied on their own clinical judgement or judgement of a senior clinician. Although most doctors (90.3%) agreed that diagnostics were helpful for clinical management, they reported patients being unwilling to provide samples and long laboratory turnaround times. Routine diagnostic data represent cases with chronic diarrhoea and dysentery since doctors are most likely to submit specimens for these cases. Pathogen yield (number of pathogens detected for samples tested for specific pathogens) was significantly higher in the surveillance study, which used molecular methods, than through routine diagnostic services (73.3% versus 8.2%, p < 0.001), including for viruses (48.9% versus 2.6%, p < 0.001), bacteria (40.1% versus 2.2%, p < 0.001) and parasites (16.2% versus 3.6%, p < 0.001). Despite viruses being commonly detected in the surveillance study, viral testing was seldom requested in routine diagnostic investigations. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive diagnostic and treatment guidelines are required for diarrhoeal diseases. These guidelines should be informed by local epidemiological data, where diagnostic testing is reserved for cases most likely to benefit from specific treatment. Optimisation of current diagnostic processes and methods are required for these cases, specifically in terms of minimising turnaround times while maximising diagnostic acumen.

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Effective risk communication is essential for outbreak mitigation, as recently highlighted during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Hand hygiene is one of the proposed public health interventions to protect against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) acquisition and transmission along with social distancing, improved ventilation, environmental cleaning, and wearing of masks. Improving hand hygiene practices in the community requires an understanding of the socio-behavioural context. This cross-sectional community survey in Soweto identified gaps in hand hygiene, which can inform appropriate messaging at the community level. Only 42% of survey respondents practiced adequate hand hygiene. Tailored educational messaging should be targeted at young adults in particular, and the importance of soap for hand hygiene must be emphasised for all age groups. Risk communication should expand to focus on preventing multiple infectious diseases during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

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BACKGROUND: In South Africa, there are limited data on the burden of diarrhoea at a community level, specifically in older children and adults. This community survey estimated rates of and factors associated with diarrhoea across all ages and determined the proportion of cases presenting to healthcare facilities. METHODS: Households were enrolled from an existing urban health and demographic surveillance site. A household representative was interviewed to determine associated factors and occurrence of diarrhoea in the household, for all household members, in the past 2 weeks (including symptoms and health seeking behaviour). Diarrhoeal rate of any severity was calculated for < 5 years, 5-15 years and > 15 years age groups. Factors associated with diarrhoea and health seeking behaviour were investigated using binomial logistic regression. RESULTS: Diarrhoeal rate among respondents (2.5 episodes/person-year (95% CI, 1.8-3.5)) was significantly higher than for other household members (1.0 episodes/person-year (95% CI, 0.8-1.4); IRR = 2.4 (95% CI, 1.5-3.7) p < 0.001). Diarrhoeal rates were similar between age groups, however younger children (< 5 years) were more likely to present to healthcare facilities than adults (OR = 5.9 (95% CI, 1.1-31.4), p = 0.039). Oral rehydration solution was used in 44.8% of cases. Having a child between 5 and 15 years in the household was associated with diarrhoea (OR = 2.3 (95% CI, 1.3-3.9), p = 0.003) and, while 26.4% of cases sought healthcare, only 4.6% were hospitalised and only 3.4% of cases had a stool specimen collected. While the majority of cases were mild, 13.8% of cases felt they required healthcare but were unable to access it. CONCLUSION: Diarrhoeal rate was high across all age groups in this community; however, older children and adults were less likely to present to healthcare, and are therefore underrepresented through facility-based clinical surveillance. Current diarrhoeal surveillance represents a fraction of the overall cases occurring in the community.

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Background: There are limited data on paediatric invasive bacterial infections (IBI) and the impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) on the spectrum of IBI pathogens, specifically in African countries with a high prevalence of HIV infection.Aim: To describe the epidemiology of IBI in a cohort of children <5 years of age in Soweto, South Africa.Methods: A cohort of children enrolled into a PCV9 efficacy trial conducted from 1998 until 2005 was used for secondary data analysis. Surveillance data were collected from admission wards at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. The incidence of IBI was calculated using person-time, stratified by age group, gender, PCV9 vaccination status and HIV infection status. Risk factors for IBI were investigated using binomial logistic regression.Results: A total of 395 cases of laboratory-confirmed IBI were identified. HIV infection and not receiving PCV9 vaccination were risk factors for IBI hospitalisation. PCV9 vaccination was associated with reductions in IBI hospitalisation (IRR 0.76, p = 0.006) solely owing to reductions in the incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae (IRR 0.56, p < 0.001). PCV9 vaccination had no effect on the incidence of Haemophilus influenza type b or Salmonella species IBI. There was an increase in Klebsiella species IBI (IRR 3.50, p = 0.019) and a trend towards a higher incidence of Staphylococcus aureus IBI (IRR 1.90, p = 0.099) in PCV9-vaccinated children.Conclusions: PCV9 vaccination was effective in reducing the incidence of IBI hospitalisation in children through reductions in the incidence of S. pneumoniae. The results show that trends in other IBI causative pathogens (specifically S. aureus and Klebsiella species) should be monitored in the era of PCV vaccination.Abbreviations: ART, antiretroviral therapy; CI, confidence interval; Hib, Haemophilus influenza type b; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; HIV+PCV-, HIV-infected, placebo-vaccinated group; HIV+PCV+, HIV-infected, PCV9-vaccinated group; HIV-PCV-, HIV-uninfected, placebo-vaccinated group; HIV+PCV+, HIV-infected, PCV9-vaccinated group; IBI, invasive bacterial infection; IPD, invasive pneumococcal disease; IRR, incidence rate ratio; IQR, interquartile range; OR, odds ratio; PCV, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine; PCV7, 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine; PCV9, 9-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine; PY, person-years; RCT, randomised control trial.

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