Infant feeding practices in Soweto, South Africa: Implications for healthcare providers.

BACKGROUND: The 2011 Tshwane Declaration for the Promotion of Breastfeeding in South Africa ended the country's longstanding support for promoting either exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) or exclusive formula feeding for HIV-positive mothers. However, South Africa's EBF rate is only 32%. OBJECTIVES: To describe multilevel factors associated with different infant feeding practices among HIV-positive and negative mothers of infants aged <6 months in an HIV-endemic community. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was administered to 298 HIV-positive and negative mothers accessing care in one of five community health clinics in Soweto, Johannesburg, between September 2015 and May 2016. Infant feeding practices and associated factors were explored through descriptive and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Excluding HIV-positive mothers who chose formula feeding (n=97), breastfeeding initiation was almost universal (99.5%). Caesarean section (CS) was the most common reason mothers delayed breastfeeding. HIV-positive mothers were significantly more likely to report prolonged EBF (and formula feeding) practices than their HIV-negative counterparts. Breastfeeding mothers were significantly more likely to be unemployed than mothers who formula fed. Mixed feeding was common. CONCLUSIONS: EBF remains strongly associated with HIV status as opposed to infant health and development. Breastfeeding support for working mothers is needed. While breastfeeding increased following the Declaration, more should be done in the health setting to communicate the risks of mixed feeding in the first 6 months. The high rate of CSs reported by mothers, linked to late initiation of breastfeeding, also needs the medical community's attention.

Genetic parameters for resistance to Haemonchus contortus in Merino sheep in South Africa.

Resistance to natural infections of Haemonchus contortus (wireworm) was studied in Merino sheep. From February 1995 to July 1996 data were collected from the OTK Merino Stud on the farm Wildebeesfontein near Hendrina in Mpumalanga province. From March 1998 to January 2000 another Merino flock at Irene in Gauteng province was included in the study. In both cases, 50 randomly-chosen animals from each group of lambs weaned were sampled weekly for faecal egg count (FEC) until a mean of 2500 eggs per gram faeces (epg) was reached. At this stage, all lambs in the group were sampled for FEC, packed cell volume (PCV) and live mass in the case of the Wildebeesfontein flock. Animals were monitored from weaning to about 1 year of age. Data from 5 different groups of lambs (583 animals and 1722 records in total) with genetic links were accumulated and analysed. Variance components and resulting heritabilities for logFEC and PCV were estimated using a bivariate animal model with repeated records. The estimated heritabilities were 0.24 +/- 0.02 for logFEC and 0.14 +/- 0.02 for PCV. A strong negative correlation (-0.84 +/- 0.06) existed between the 2 traits. The genetic correlation between PCV and live mass for the Wildebeesfontein flock was low (0.28 +/- 0.09), while that between logFEC and live mass was negative, although not significantly different from zero (-0.13 +/- 0.09). These results suggest that FEC can be used as a selection criterion for resistance to H. contortus infections in Merino sheep.

[Handling of stress by psychiatric nursing students: II]. / Streshantering van die psigiatriese verpleegkundestudent: Deel II.

Stress is caused by the demands of everyday life and is an integral part of our lives. The manner in which stress is coped with, remains the responsibility of the individual herself. To be in the nursing profession today, is highly demanding. The psychiatric nurse experiences more stressors, because she is involved in a specialised area, where she uses herself as a therapeutic instrument on a scientific basis. The psychiatric nursing student finds herself in a situation where she is confronted by stressors from her personal and professional environment, as well as stressors caused by her present training in psychiatric nursing. To ensure quality nursing and job satisfaction by the psychiatric nursing students, it is important that their stressors must be identified and that they must learn in good time ways how to effectively cope with it. The psychiatric nursing student must learn ways to cope with her own stressors and consequently she will be in a position to be of assistance to her patients. Coping with stress unsuccessfully and not identifying a high stress load, can have disastrous consequences for both the psychiatric nursing student as well as for the specific organisation in which she is involved. The purpose of this research is to identify the precise stressors which influence the psychiatric nursing student during her training, as well as to establish guidelines to direct the psychiatric nursing student where coping with stress is concerned. A descriptive contextual field study was executed by identifying the stressors of a psychiatric nursing student in the area that she was involved in during her training.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)