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13 September 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Stephen Collett
Prof Trudi O’Neill, Professor in the UFS Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry, delivered her inaugural lecture on the topic: Rotavirus: New strategies to outsmart an old foe.
Prof Trudi O’Neill, Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS) – whose research over the past 14 years is geared towards the development of a low-cost rotavirus vaccine for use in Africa – recently delivered her inaugural lecture on the Bloemfontein Campus on the topic: Rotavirus: New strategies to outsmart an old foe, a very appropriate topic for the time we live in. Most of her work is funded by the German Research Foundation.

She is a founding member and since 2016 Chairperson of the African Research Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (ARNTD). This African-based network aims to empower current and future African researchers to support evidence-based control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases. 

Prof O’Neill, known among her colleagues as being passionate about her work, also investigates rotavirus-host interactions and strain diversity in both humans and animals. 

She obtained her PhD in Molecular Virology at the University of Pretoria in 2001 and started her career at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute. In 2012, she joined the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry at the UFS.

Burden of the disease

“Rotavirus, a zoonotic infection, competes with adenovirus, cholera, and shigella as the biggest cause (27% of diarrhoea cases) of severe dehydrating diarrhoea in children under five,” says Prof O'Neill.

Repeated infections by rotavirus or other diarrhoea-causing pathogens can cause a number of long-term complications, such as intestinal damage and inflammation, nutrient loss, and malabsorption, resulting in malnutrition and subsequently a weak immune system. Malnutrition at a young age can lead to metabolic diseases such as diabetes in the long run.

She says vaccine effectiveness is dependent on many factors. Those suffering from malnutrition in poor countries with inadequate sanitation and who are living in close contact with animals, are most at risk of severe dehydrating diarrhoea caused by rotavirus infections. Low-income countries saw an efficiency rate of less than 50% compared to middle-income countries' 75% efficiency rate. She says, however, that vaccines have had the biggest public health impact in low-income countries due to the high burden of disease. 

Prof O’Neill’s presentation included a review of the research that had been conducted, including diversity studies using genome characterisation (sequencing of more than 100 strains, most of which from Mozambique), lipid studies, and investigations into the use of virus-like particles (VLPs) and subunit proteins as vaccine candidates. Production of VLPs and proteins was explored in insect cells and yeast, exploiting the Biobanks SA Yeast culture collection housed in the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry. A subunit vaccine containing parts (proteins) of the virus that causes the disease and broad-spectrum antiviral vaccine candidates are some of the strategies she is investigating to combat the long-term effects of rotavirus infections. 

Cost and safety

Decades of work in the rotavirus field led to the licensing of the first vaccines to fight the infection in the late 2000s. Prof O’Neill says that there has been a 65% decline in rotavirus-related deaths since 2000, with vaccines being a major contributor to this. 

Two of the concerns she pointed out in terms of the vaccine were about safety and cost. For persons with severe immune deficiencies, the vaccine can cause vaccine-derived rotavirus infection.

Addressing the concern about cost, Gavi, a public–private global health partnership that aims to increase access to immunisation in poor countries, has done great work in providing rotavirus vaccine support to low-income countries. 

News Archive

African Student Affairs Conference a huge success
2011-05-24

 
Mr Rudi Buys, UFS Dean of Student Affairs, Mr. Folabi Obembe, Managing Director of Worldview International, Ms Birgit Schreiber, Director of the Centre for Student support services at the University of the Western Cape, Dr. Augustinah Duyilemi, Dean of Student Affairs at the Adekunleh Ajasin University in Nigeria, Dr. Christina Lunceford, assistant Director for the Centre for Research on Educational Access and Leadership at California State University in America, and Prof. Cecil Bodibe, student affairs veteran and consultant.
Photo: Earl Coetzee

The African Student Affairs Conference (ASAC), which took place on our Main Campus last week, was a major success, with two days of lectures and discussions and two pleasant social gatherings, where delegates had the opportunity to get to know each other.

The conference, hosted on African soil for the first time, and co-hosted by the University of the Western Cape (UWC), started on Wednesday 18 May 2011 with an informal welcoming session. Delegates got to meet each other and Mr Rudi Buys, UFS Dean of Student Affairs, explained the meaning of South African words like "kuier" and "lekker'.

The official start of events took place on Thursday 19 May 2011, in the Reitz Hall in our Centenary Complex. The conference was attended by delegates from universities across the continent and aimed to place the focus on issues relating to student affairs in an African context.

Delegates shared and exchanged strategies, ideas and resources, and discussed issues related to the work of student affairs professionals. The conference hoped to promote an exchange of best practice and assist attendees in identifying successful programmes.

Among the topics discussed on the first day, were “Constructing Post-Conflict Democracy on campus: a case study of transformation of student governance and political engagement as post-conflict intervention”, by Mr. Buys, and a discussion on ways in which social and online media can be used to ease the challenges of student interaction, development and support, by Ms Birgit Schreiber, Director of the Centre for Student Support Services at UWC.

A panel discussion, led by Mr Buys and several members of our Interim Student Council (ISC), discussed the specific challenges faced at the UFS.  The importance of buy-in from role-players in decisions taken by University management in order to ensure their success, was discussed, using the UFS and our recent changes as an example.

The successful integration of residences on campus inevitably came under the spotlight and the recently resolved Reitz-saga was named as a catalyst in getting students less apathetic and more involved in attempts at creating racial and social harmony.

Dr Christina Lunceford, Assistant-Director of the Centre for Research on Educational Access and Leadership at California State University, presented a paper entitled A National Approach to Building Capacity in Student Affairs in South African Higher Education.

She commented on the fact that there is little or no philosophical framework or explicit theory that informs practice of student services in South Africa.

According to Dr Lunceford, student development should be a key concern for every department or unit within student services and emphasized the need for a centralized student development unit at each university.
She also touched on the need for institutions to implement support from international student affairs professional associations, professional development for student affairs practitioners, the utilization of technology to support professionals in the field, and working with international partners to explore future opportunities, as ways in which student affairs can be used to drive performance and change at universities.

The conference continued in the Scaena theatre on Friday 20 May 2011, with presentations by Dr Augustinah Duyileme, Dean of Student Affairs at Adekunle Ajasin University in Nigeria, and Prof. Bobby Mandew, Executive Director of Student Affairs at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

Dr Duyileme presented a paper on the challenges faced by Nigerian universities with regard to student conflict and protests, which often turn violent, and how such violence can be curbed through proper planning and management.

Prof. Mandew presented a very well-received presentation on UJ’s successful off-campus housing initiative, which involves home-owners and business owners in the areas surrounding their campuses.

Their approach demonstrated how proper planning can prevent problems associated with over-population in private homes and conflict with neighbours of the university, usually related to an influx of students into residential neighbourhoods.

This problem is faced by many universities, as more and more students flock to universities on the continent and campus residents cannot accommodate them.

The conference came to a close on Friday, with most delegates agreeing that the exchange of knowledge which took place was extremely valuable.

Ms Deborah Lahlan, of Nigeria, said: “This is an important conference for Africa and it should become a regular event.”
 

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