Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
2 May 2024 | 13:12 SAST
1-minute read

Image: PrognoCIS

CoughWatchSA is a participatory program aimed at monitoring respiratory illnesses. It enables citizens to report respiratory symptoms on a weekly basis in order to support current facility-based surveillance.

Mvuyo Makhasi, study lead at CoughWatchSA told Radio Islam International that current surveillance of respiratory illness includes the collection of specimens from patients who present with symptoms at various public clinics and hospitals across the country.

“However, this is limited in that not everyone goes to a clinic or a private medical doctor to seek medical care for respiratory symptoms. We have from our data a lot of people that use other means, such as pharmacies, home remedies, or other forms of care,” Makhasi explains. This has led to the collection of data through the online survey, which can be found at https://coughwatchsa.org.za/.

The survey collects basic information from participants, such as gender and underlying medical conditions. Thereafter, participants will receive a weekly questionnaire to about current respiratory symptoms.

“If you have experienced symptoms, we then ask you to list the specific symptoms from our list that you have experienced and any other that you might have had. And then there’s this user follow-up question, such as when the symptoms began, what kind of treatment that you sought, and then if there’s any impact on your work or school, in terms of taking time off. So this data allows us then to quantify the number of suspected cases, and also look at health-seeking patterns that we can then compare over time,” Makhasi explains.

The data indicates that the number of reported influenza cases over the past two years has returned to pre-Covid levels, Makhasi says.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat here.