Responding to SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa: what can we learn from drug-resistant tuberculosis?

Norbert Ndjeka; Francesca Conradie; Graeme Meintjes; Anja Reuter; Jennifer Hughes; Xavier Padanilam; Nazir Ismail; Yulene Kock; Iqbal Master; Rodolfo Romero; Julian Te Riele; Martin Enwerem; Hannetjie Ferreira; Gary Maartens

doi:10.1183/13993003.01369-2020

Responding to SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa: what can we learn from drug-resistant tuberculosis?

Eur Respir J. 2020 Jul 23;56(1):2001369. doi: 10.1183/13993003.01369-2020. Print 2020 Jul.

Authors

Norbert Ndjeka^{1

2}, Francesca Conradie^{3

2}, Graeme Meintjes⁴, Anja Reuter⁵, Jennifer Hughes⁶, Xavier Padanilam⁷, Nazir Ismail⁸, Yulene Kock⁹, Iqbal Master¹⁰, Rodolfo Romero¹¹, Julian Te Riele¹², Martin Enwerem¹³, Hannetjie Ferreira¹⁴, Gary Maartens⁴

Affiliations

¹ National Dept of Health, Drug Resistant TB Directorate, Pretoria, South Africa Norbert.Ndjeka@health.gov.za.
² Joint first author: N. Ndjeka and F. Conradie contributed equally.
³ University of Witwatersrand, Faculty of Health Sciences, Dept of Clinical Medicine, Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁴ Dept of Medicine and Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa.
⁵ Médecins Sans Frontières, Khayelitsha, South Africa.
⁶ Desmond Tutu TB Centre, Dept of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁷ Sizwe Tropical Disease Hospital, Dept of Health, Gauteng, South Africa.
⁸ Centre for Tuberculosis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁹ National Dept of Health, Drug Resistant TB Directorate, Pretoria, South Africa.
¹⁰ King Dinuzulu Hospital, Kwazulu Natal Provincial Dept of Health, Durban, South Africa.
¹¹ District Clinical Specialist Team, Namakwa, South Africa.
¹² Metro TB Hospital Centre, Brooklyn Chest Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
¹³ Witbank TB Specialized Hospital, Witbank, South Africa.
¹⁴ Klerksdorp-Tshepong Hospital, Klerksdorp, South Africa.

Abstract

Rapid adoption of new diagnostic tools, parallel process of research and implementation, decentralisation of services, the use of personal protective equipment, as well as strong partnership and collaboration, could strengthen the fight against COVID-19 https://bit.ly/2XupDNe

Publication types

Letter

MeSH terms

COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections* / diagnosis
Coronavirus Infections* / therapy
Humans
Interdisciplinary Communication*
Pandemics*
Pneumonia, Viral* / diagnosis
Pneumonia, Viral* / therapy
South Africa
Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant* / diagnosis
Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant* / therapy