The study and quantification of personal care products, such as pharmaceuticals, in surface water has become popular in recent years; yet very little description of these compounds’ presence in South African surface water exists in the literature. Antiretrovirals (ARVs), used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are rarely considered within this field. A new method for the simultaneous quantification of 12 antiretroviral compounds in surface water using the standard addition method is described. Water samples were concentrated by a generic automated solid phase extraction method and analysed by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Substantial matrix effect was encountered in the samples with an average method detection limit of 90.4 ng/L. This is the first reported countrywide survey of South African surface water for the quantification of these compounds with average concentrations ranging between 26.5 and 430 ng/L.

Public health is threatened by air pollution and high temperature, especially in urban areas and areas impacted by climate change. Well-designed urban forms have co-benefits on promoting human health and mediating atmospheric environment-related threats (e.g., high temperature and air pollution). Previous studies overlooked these mediating effects of urban form on suicide mortality. This study used partial least squares modeling and countywide data in Taiwan to identify the crucial influences and pathways of urban environment, socioeconomic status, and diseases on suicide mortality. The model considered the impact of the characteristics of urban form (i.e., urban development intensity, land mix, and urban sprawl), urban industrial status (i.e., industrial level), urban greening (i.e., green coverage), disease (i.e., important diseases morbidity of human immunodeficiency virus [HIV], cerebrovascular disease [CVD], chronic liver disease and cirrhosis [CLDC], nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis [NNSN], malignant tumor [MT]), socioeconomic status (i.e., income level and aging population rate), and the atmospheric environment (i.e., air pollution and high temperature) on suicide mortality. Optimizing land mix and minimizing urban development intensity and urban sprawl have been found to reduce suicide mortality. The mediating effect of urban form on suicide mortality originated from air pollution and high temperature, and mediating air pollution was greater than high temperature. Furthermore, industrial level, important diseases (HIV, CVD, CLDC, NNSN, and MT) morbidity, an aging population rate, air pollution, and high temperature were associated with an increase in suicide mortality, whereas green coverage and income level were associated with a reduction in suicide rates. The findings demonstrate that appropriate urban policy and urban planning may lower suicide mortality, be useful strategies for suicide prevention, and be a foundation for building a healthy city. Moreover, this study provides clarity on the complex relationship of suicide and the urban environment while identifying crucial factors.

The consumption of tonnes of anti-tubercular and other anti-microbial compounds for the control of the tuberculosis epidemic and other opportunistic diseases associated with human immunodeficiency virus presents tuberculosis-endemic countries such as South Africa, with a problem regarding the occurrence and fate of these compounds in the aquatic environment. The majority of these compounds are not readily degradable and could persist in the aquatic environment with potential detrimental effect on the aquatic microbiota ecosystem, development and dissemination of anti-microbial resistance as well as chronic toxicity in humans due to long-term exposure. This review summarises and discusses the occurrence, fate and potential adverse effects of the commonly administered anti-tubercular compounds in the aquatic environment in tuberculosis-endemic countries and South Africa in particular. It further attempts to identify information gaps in the literature regarding anti-tubercular compounds in the environment that needs further investigation so that their risk can be comprehensively assessed and impact mitigated.

HIV high risk population may face not only the threat of HIV infection but also a higher chance of exposure to environmental contaminants. However, no previous studies have examined the body burden of environmental pollutants including heavy metals among HIV high risk populations. The aim of this study was to investigate whether adults aged 20–59 years old at high risk of HIV infection have higher blood levels of heavy metals compared to those with low risk of HIV infection in United States.We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2010 to compare exposures to heavy metals including cadmium, lead, and total mercury by HIV risk status.The results showed that people at high risk of HIV had higher blood concentrations of all heavy metals compared to their counterparts with lower HIV risks. In multivariate linear regression models, HIV risk status was significantly associated with increased blood cadmium, lead, and total mercury after adjusting for age, sex, race, education, and poverty income ratio.Our study suggests that people at high risk of HIV have significantly higher body burden of heavy metals including cadmium, lead, and mercury compared to those with low risk of HIV. Further longitudinal study collecting more pollutants are warranted to determine the potential health effects of these elevated pollutants on both HIV-infected and HIV high-risk populations.

One of the best ways to investigate and improve the effectiveness of polices for prevention and control of infections is through systematic and rigorous evaluation of the structural, functional, and practical elements of these polices. To assess the policies for managing occupational exposure to blood-borne viral infections in Tanta University Hospitals. A cross-sectional survey was carried out. A checklist was used to collect data related to the hospital policy regarding occupational exposure to blood-borne viral infections which was filled by direct personal interviews with the members of infection control (IC) committee of Tanta University Hospitals where the percentage of those in compliance with specific occupational management policies were reported. All studied participants reported lack of access to written infection control manual and only 14.3 % reported that infection control policies and procedures are updated yearly. Only 32.5 % of studied healthcare workers (HCWs) were not aware by the availability of a needle injury clinic. Only 28.6 % of the members of IC committee reported that pre-placement screening of HCWs for baseline blood tests for HBV, HCV, or HIV was conducted; however, periodic screening for these infections was not conducted as reported by all of the members. Among the members of IC committee, 57.1 % recorded availability of post-exposure evaluation. Only 42.8 % of the members of IC committee reported ensuring HCWs’ confidentiality when reporting their exposure incidents. Both exposure management policies and practices were not aligning with the national guidelines.

The present overview discusses the findings of cryptosporidiosis research conducted in Africa and highlights the currently available information on Cryptosporidium epidemiology, genetic diversity, and distribution on the African continent, particularly among vulnerable populations, including children. It also emphasizes the burden of cryptosporidiosis, which is underestimated due to the presence of many silent asymptomatic carriers.Cryptosporidiosis is recognized as one of the leading causes of childhood diarrhea in African countries. It has dramatic adverse effects on child growth and development and causes increased mortality on a continent where HIV, poverty, and lack of sanitation and infrastructure increase the risk of cryptosporidial waterborne infection.