Social and epidemiological determinants of gonorrhoea in an East African country.

In the ‘Foreword’ to his collection Uhuru Street, Vassanji observes that ‘Uhuru’ means ‘independence’. The Kichwele Street of Dar es Salaam – later renamed as Uhuru street nurtures the spirit of independence irrespective of the continual changes that the street experienced from the sheltered innocence of colonial rule in the 1950s to the shattered world of the 1980s. This collection of short stories – as many of Vassanji’s works is characterized by “a complex ethno-cultural identity” that incorporates multiple countries (Kenya, Tanzania, India, Canada, U.S.A.), religions (crucially, the syncretic bhakti tradition he was raised in), languages (Gujarati, English, Swahili, Hindi). , The stories in Uhuru Street explore political and social change in the city of Dar es Salaam in the East African country of Tanganyika. They follow a historical arc which begins in the years leading up to independence (in 1961) and concludes in the decade or so. This paper analyzes the microcosm of an immigrant world as portrayed by Vassanji in his Uhuru Street through its eccentric characters giving us a portrait of a place and a people losing their innocence. The stories come together as a story of generations new and old, the former searching for a new identity, the latter, fiercely holding onto the past. We share with these people the moment of moving on, of leaving the place where we have roots, knowing that things will never be the same.

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Emergence and spread of a SARS-CoV-2 lineage A variant (A.23.1) with altered spike protein in Uganda

Nature Microbiology ◽

10.1038/s41564-021-00933-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Lule Bugembe ◽

My V. T. Phan ◽

Isaac Ssewanyana ◽

Patrick Semanda ◽

Hellen Nansumba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

African Country ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Basic Amino Acid ◽

Spike Protein ◽

Coding Region ◽

Careful Monitoring ◽

East African ◽

Furin Cleavage ◽

Protein Coding ◽

Furin Cleavage Site

AbstractHere, we report SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance from March 2020 until January 2021 in Uganda, a landlocked East African country with a population of approximately 40 million people. We report 322 full SARS-CoV-2 genomes from 39,424 reported SARS-CoV-2 infections, thus representing 0.8% of the reported cases. Phylogenetic analyses of these sequences revealed the emergence of lineage A.23.1 from lineage A.23. Lineage A.23.1 represented 88% of the genomes observed in December 2020, then 100% of the genomes observed in January 2021. The A.23.1 lineage was also reported in 26 other countries. Although the precise changes in A.23.1 differ from those reported in the first three SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs), the A.23.1 spike-protein-coding region has changes similar to VOCs including a change at position 613, a change in the furin cleavage site that extends the basic amino acid motif and multiple changes in the immunogenic N-terminal domain. In addition, the A.23.1 lineage has changes in non-spike proteins including nsp6, ORF8 and ORF9 that are also altered in other VOCs. The clinical impact of the A.23.1 variant is not yet clear and it has not been designated as a VOC. However, our findings of emergence and spread of this variant indicate that careful monitoring of this variant, together with assessment of the consequences of the spike protein changes for COVID-19 vaccine performance, are advisable.

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Climate Change and Young People in Uganda: A Literature Review

The Journal of Environment & Development ◽

10.1177/10704965211047159 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107049652110471

Author(s):

Anthony Mugeere ◽

Anna Barford ◽

Paul Magimbi

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Young People ◽

Literature Review ◽

African Country ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

East African ◽

African Region ◽

Economic Resilience ◽

Livelihood Options ◽

Sub Saharan

The disruptions of anthropogenic climate change are increasingly severe. People living in sub-Saharan Africa are especially exposed to these risks, and amongst them young people. It is well established that climate disruptions have the potential to halt education, displace populations, and wreck infrastructure. This rigorous literature review focuses on climate change in the landlocked East African country of Uganda, demographically the world’s third youngest country, where young people struggle to get by due to insufficient work opportunities. Extended to other countries in the Eastern and Central African region, the review considers what is known about the intersection of youth livelihoods and climate change; young people’s susceptibility to climate disruption due to limited resources and livelihood options; and the constraints around their responses. The review findings suggest the need for substantial youth informed interventions to bolster young people’s economic resilience and adaptive capacity given the worsening climate change and prolonged population growth.

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A SARS-CoV-2 lineage A variant (A.23.1) with altered spike has emerged and is dominating the current Uganda epidemic

10.1101/2021.02.08.21251393 ◽

2021 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Daniel Lule Bugembe ◽

My V.T.Phan ◽

Isaac Ssewanyana ◽

Patrick Semanda ◽

Hellen Nansumba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

African Country ◽

Rapid Assessment ◽

Basic Amino Acid ◽

Spike Protein ◽

Coding Region ◽

Careful Monitoring ◽

East African ◽

Furin Cleavage ◽

Protein Coding ◽

Furin Cleavage Site

Introductory paragraphSARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in Uganda provides an opportunity to provide a focused description of the virus evolution in a small landlocked East African country. Here we show a recent shift in the local epidemic with a newly emerging lineage A.23 evolving into A.23.1 which is now dominating the Uganda cases and has spread to 26 other countries. Although the precise changes in A.23.1 as it has adapted are different from the changes in the variants of concern (VOC), the evolution shows convergence on a similar set of proteins. The A.23.1 spike protein coding region has accumulated changes that resemble many of the changes seen in VOC including a change at position 613, a change in the furin cleavage site that extends the basic amino acid motif, and multiple changes in the immunogenic N-terminal domain. In addition, the A.23.1lineage encodes changes in non-spike proteins that other VOC show (nsp6, ORF8 and ORF9). The clinical impact of the A.23.1 variant is not yet clear, however it is essential to continue careful monitoring of this variant, as well as rapid assessment of the consequences of the spike protein changes for vaccine efficacy.

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