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01 April 2022 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Supplied
Dr Nicholas Pearce
All smiles. Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), receiving his award as best Doctor of the Year at the annual National Batho Pele Excellence Awards from the Honourable Minister Ms Ayanda Dlodlo, Minister of Public Service and Administration (left). With them on the right is the Honorable Dr Phophi Ramathuba, MEC for Health in Limpopo.
Although his name is on the award, Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) and winner of the Batho Pele Excellence award, believes every individual he has worked with during the COVID-19 pandemic are the winners of this award. 
 
At a ceremony last month (25 March 2022), Dr Pearce received the Best Doctor of the Year award at the National Annual Batho Pele Excellence Awards (NBPEA) for his work as head of the COVID-19 Task Team at the Universitas Academic Hospital in Bloemfontein.
 
“I feel that this reward reflects a team of individuals who went above and beyond during a very uncertain period in our lives. I feel elated that the team has been acknowledged for the sterling work done during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“I’ve been supported by a brilliant clinical team, with the likes of Dr Samantha Potgieter (Infectious Disease Specialist – UFS), Dr Shaun Maasdorp (Head: Multi ICU – UFS), Dr Edwin Turton (Head: Anaesthesiology – UFS) and many others, in running COVID-19 at the Universitas Academic Hospital and in the province,” says Dr Pearce.

According to him, this award also reflects the efforts put in by the University of the Free State in supporting COVID-19 in terms of logistics and donations, particularly Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Prakash Naidoo, Vice-Rector: Operations, Dr Vic Coetzee, Senior Director: Information and Communication Technology Services and his team, as well as Mr Nico Janse van Rensburg, Senior Director: University Estates and his team. It also shows how much more can be achieved in the health-care sector and overall, when the private and state sectors combine to conquer a common enemy.  The award is also a reflection on the Free State Department of Health and its ability to adapt to changing burdens of disease.

Humbled and honoured by the award

A humble Dr Pearce says he feel honoured to receive this award; however, there are many unsung heroes in the public sector. He says: “This is a national award for which nominations are received from all over the country, and then the winner is selected from this group of individuals by an independent panel. There are many unsung heroes in all of our lives; teachers (university, high school, and primary school), security, and all health-care workers. There are many people who are brilliant at what they do.”

His nomination came from the hospital and the Department of Health, primarily via Dr Rita Nathan, Head of Clinical Services at Universitas Academic Hospital, but with a large amount of input from the hospital management as well as the Member of the Executive Council for Health in the Free State, the Honourable Montseng Tsui, and the Head of Department of Health, Mr Godfrey Mahlatsi.  

Synonymous with fighting COVID-19

Since the early days of the pandemic, Dr Pearce’s name has become synonymous with the Universitas Hospital and fighting COVID-19. He feels that this is unfortunate, as he had several people who worked hard with him and who contributed to the success of fighting this deadly disease. 

“I think what made us so dynamic is that many people on the team came with many different skillsets and we were able to have an all-encompassing battle plan by harnessing the many different and individual skills to push us forward as a province.”  

“I think that I, as chair of the COVID-19 task team, to get the majority of credit is somewhat disingenuous and not really reflective of all the effort that many people put into the situation.”

Impact of COVID-19 

The pandemic impacted him on a personal level, says Dr Pearce. According to him, the question he is often asked is why he is working at a university. His response: “Fundamentally teaching a large population that the impact we have is beyond a single human interaction. For example, if I was purely a doctor, I would only be able to treat one patient at a time, but by working within the university, we are able to prepare our next generation of doctors and our impact is much larger and beyond just the individual patient.”  

Dr Pearce believes protecting the state health-care sector is vital for the future, as this is the training platform for future doctors, specialists, and all other health-care workers. The use of resources for the betterment of society is so much more important.  COVID-19 not only allowed hospitals to buy equipment that doctors would otherwise not have access to, but also allowed them to procure equipment in a rapid manner that will be used for many years to come. 

The next challenge

Dr Pearce says when the COVID-19 outbreak started, he was on his way back to South Africa from Germany when he saw people wearing masks, and at the same time they were building hospitals in China in seven days. Once back at the office, he immediately approached management at the hospital and asked them to start procuring masks, PPEs, etc. “We did not really know what was going on, but I felt that this was the first step.”

When COVID-19 took over and elective surgery stopped, Dr Pearce became the chairperson of the COVID-19 task team – something he enjoyed, as it taught him a lot about management, about human interaction, and about teamwork. It also taught him about his goals and ambitions in life. Though he is back in surgery almost full time, he is looking for his next challenge. 



 

News Archive

Inaugural lecture: Prof Robert Bragg, Dept. of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology
2006-05-17



Attending the inaugural lecture were in front from the left Prof Robert Bragg (lecturer at the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology) and Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor).  At the back from the left were Prof James du Preez (Departmental Chairperson:  Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology) and Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences). Photo: Stephen Collett
 

A summary of an inaugural lecture delivered by Prof Robert Bragg at the University of the Free State:

CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS AVIAN DISEASES – LESSONS FOR MAN?

Prof Robert R Bragg
Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology
University of the Free State

“Many of the lessons learnt in disease control in poultry will have application on human medicine,” said Prof Robert Bragg, lecturer at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology during his inaugural lecture.

Prof Bragg said the development of vaccines remains the main stay of disease control in humans as well as in avian species.  Disease control can not rely on vaccination alone and other disease-control options must be examined.  

“With the increasing problems of antibiotic resistance, the use of disinfection and bio security are becoming more important,” he said.

“Avian influenza (AI) is an example of a disease which can spread from birds to humans.  Hopefully this virus will not develop human to human transmission,” said Prof Bragg.

According to Prof Bragg, South Africa is not on the migration route of water birds, which are the main transmitters of AI.  “This makes South Africa one of the countries less likely to get the disease,” he said.

If the AI virus does develop human to human transmission, it could make the 1918 flu pandemic pale into insignificance.  During the 1918 flu pandemic, the virus had a mortality rate of only 3%, yet more than 50 million people died.

Although the AI virus has not developed human-to-human transmission, all human cases have been related to direct contact with infected birds. The mortality rate in humans who have contracted this virus is 67%.

“Apart from the obvious fears for the human population, this virus is a very serious poultry pathogen and can cause 100% mortality in poultry populations.  Poultry meat and egg production is the staple protein source in most countries around the world. The virus is currently devastating the poultry industry world-wide,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg’s research activities on avian diseases started off with the investigation of diseases in poultry.  “The average life cycle of a broiler chicken is 42 days.  After this short time, they are slaughtered.  As a result of the short generation time in poultry, one can observe changes in microbial populations as a result of the use of vaccines, antibiotics and disinfectants,” said Prof Bragg.   

“Much of my research effort has been directed towards the control of infectious coryza in layers, which is caused by the bacterium Avibacterium paragallinarum.  This disease is a type of sinusitis in the layer chickens and can cause a drop in egg product of up to 40%,” said Prof Bragg.

The vaccines used around the world in an attempt to control this disease are all inactivated vaccines. One of the most important points is the selection of the correct strains of the bacterium to use in the vaccine.

Prof Bragg established that in South Africa, there are four different serovars of the bacterium and one of these, the serovar C-3 strain, was believed to be unique to Southern Africa. He also recently discovered this serovar for the first time in Israel, thus indicating that this serovar might have a wider distribution than originally believed.

Vaccines used in this country did not contain this serovar.  Prof Bragg established that the long term use of vaccines not containing the local South African strain resulted in a shift in the population distribution of the pathogen.

Prof Bragg’s research activities also include disease control in parrots and pigeons.   “One of the main research projects in my group is on the disease in parrots caused by the circovirus Beak and Feather Disease virus. This virus causes serious problems in the parrot breeding industry in this country. This virus is also threatening the highly endangered and endemic Cape Parrot,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg’s research group is currently working on the development of a DNA vaccine which will assist in the control of the disease, not only in the parrot breeding industry, but also to help the highly endangered Cape Parrot in its battle for survival.

“Not all of our research efforts are directed towards infectious coryza or the Beak and Feather Disease virus.  One of my Masters students is currently investigating the cell receptors involved in the binding of Newcastle Disease virus to cancerous cells and normal cells of humans. This work will also eventually lead to a possible treatment of cancer in humans and will assist with the development of a recombinant vaccine for Newcastle disease virus,” said Prof Bragg.

We are also currently investigating an “unknown” virus which causes disease problems in poultry in the Western Cape,” said Prof Bragg.
 
“Although disinfection has been extensively used in the poultry industry, it has only been done at the pre-placement stage. In other words, disinfectants are used before the birds are placed into the house. Once the birds are placed, all use of disinfectants stops,” said Prof Bragg.

“Disinfection and bio security can be seen as the ‘Cinderella’ of disease control in poultry.  This is also true for human medicine. One just has to look at the high numbers of people who die from hospital-acquired infections to realise that disinfection is not a concept which is really clear in human health care,” said Prof Bragg.

Much research has been done in the control of diseases through vaccination and through the use of antibiotics. “These pillars of disease control are, however, starting to crumble and more effort is needed on disinfection and bio security,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg has been working in close co-operation with a chemical manufacturing company in Stellenbosch to develop a unique disinfectant which his highly effective yet not toxic to the birds.

As a result of this unique product, he has developed the continual disinfection program for use in poultry. In this program the disinfectant is used throughout the production cycle of the birds. It is also used to ensure that there is excellent pre-placement disinfection.

“The program is extensively used for the control of infectious diseases in the parrot-breeding industry in South Africa and the product has been registered in 15 countries around the world with registration in the USA in the final process,” said Prof Bragg.

“Although the problem of plasmid mediated resistance to disinfectants is starting to rear its ugly head, this has allowed for the opening of a new research field which my group will hopefully exploit in the near future,” he said.

 

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