Impact of the first COVID-19 lockdown on male urethritis syndrome services in South Africa.

OBJECTIVES: Globally, there have been significant changes in utilisation of STI testing and treatment services during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 in countries that use syndromic STI management is not documented. This study used routine STI surveillance data to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on utilisation of STI syndromic management services during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa. METHODS: We conducted a time-trend analysis of male urethritis syndrome (MUS) cases reported through routine national STI surveillance in South Africa and COVID-19 data available through the national dashboard. We defined three time periods (prelockdown, lockdown and postlockdown) based on COVID-19 response levels. Trends in MUS reporting was compared between these time periods at national and provincial level and with the number of positive COVID-19 tests in a district. RESULTS: An overall reduction of 27% in the national number of MUS cases reported (monthly average from 27 117 to 20 107) occurred between the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 lockdown periods (p<0.001), with a range of 18%-39% between the nine provinces. Postlockdown, case numbers returned almost to the prelockdown level (26 304; -3.0%). No significant difference was found in number of MUS cases between the prelockdown and postlockdown periods. A weak correlation (R2=0,21) was identified between the change in number of MUS reported and COVID-19 positive tests in a district. CONCLUSIONS: A strong reduction in reported MUS cases for syndromic management was observed during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic and lockdown across all provinces in South Africa. This is likely the result of various healthcare system and service delivery factors associated with lockdown measures. The observed return of MUS cases reported to prelockdown measures is reassuring.

Antineoplastic nano-lipobubbles for passively targeted ovarian cancer therapy.

The multivariate challenges associated with successful ovarian cancer therapy severely compromises the outcome of therapy and patient quality of life. Coated cholesterol (CHO) and distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DSPE) nano-lipobubbles (NLBs) loaded with silibinin and camptothecin were synthesized and evaluated as a possible intravenous delivery system for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Cytotoxicity analysis in addition to in vitro release, zeta potential and drug entrapment studies were conducted on the NLBs. Results of the cytotoxicity evaluation on A2780 epithelial ovarian cancer cells corroborated the benefits of the altered drug release characteristics achieved following polymeric coating. Cumulative cytotoxicity demonstrated by the NLBs 72 h post-treatment ranged between 85%-95%. Cellular internalization of the NLBs was swiftly achieved, with the extent of internalization exhibiting time-dependent characteristics. A size-dependent cellular internalization correlation between the NLB systems was also achieved. Evaluation of the prepared NLBs displayed favorable characteristics for the achievement of passive targeting and satisfactory drug incorporation for application in ovarian cancer treatment.

Overview of the role of nanotechnological innovations in the detection and treatment of solid tumors.

Nanotechnology, although still in its infantile stages, has the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of disease progression and success of therapy for numerous diseases and conditions, not least of which is cancer. As it is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, early cancer detection, as well as safe and efficacious therapeutic intervention, will be indispensable in improving the prognosis related to cancers and overall survival rate, as well as health-related quality of life of patients diagnosed with cancer. The development of a relatively new field of nanomedicine, which combines various domains and technologies including nanotechnology, medicine, biology, pharmacology, mathematics, physics, and chemistry, has yielded different approaches to addressing these challenges. Of particular relevance in cancer, nanosystems have shown appreciable success in the realm of diagnosis and treatment. Characteristics attributable to these systems on account of the nanoscale size range allow for individualization of therapy, passive targeting, the attachment of targeting moieties for more specific targeting, minimally invasive procedures, and real-time imaging and monitoring of in vivo processes. Furthermore, incorporation into nanosystems may have the potential to reintroduce into clinical practice drugs that are no longer used because of various shortfalls, as well as aid in the registration of new, potent drugs with suboptimal pharmacokinetic profiles. Research into the development of nanosystems for cancer diagnosis and therapy is thus a rapidly emerging and viable field of study.