I am happy to announce that since February this year I am working full time as a consultant (Epi Result). I enjoy working on the different projects (related to HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, diarrhoea, migration etc.) and having different tasks (analysing data, writing articles, reviewing articles, advising on the data collection instruments of a study etc.). Most of the work I do from my office next to our house in Louis Trichardt, although I travel once in a while for meetings to e.g. Johannesburg or Pretoria, or closer to home in the Soutpansberg mountains. I send you this update to keep you informed about my activities and share news, knowledge and ideas. You can also have a look at my website, which has just been renewed, for more information on the projects I am involved in.

Best wishes,
Annette Gerritsen

Malaria, which spreads through the bites from infected mosquitoes, affected about 243 million people in 2008, and 863 000 deaths due to malaria occurred in that year, 89% of those in Africa. But what is the risk of contracting malaria for tourists travelling to South Africa for the World Cup 2010? Is there malaria in the cities where the stadiums are? And what if travelling around to e.g. the Kruger Park? This article gives an answer to these questions.
Read more about malaria during the 2010 World Cup

The South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA) was looking for an effective way to communicate its research findings in such a way that these are accessible to the interested health professional and policy-maker. Together with Epi Result, the SACEMA Quarterly Magazine on Epidemiology was developed; an online magazine with articles on e.g. HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, produced every three months. The first edition of the magazine was launched in March 2009 and it has a growing number of subscribers.
Read more about: SACEMA Quarterly Magazine on Epidemiology

Many different measures of health and disease are used to describe the health of populations. In this article you will be introduced to the three fundamental measures of disease occurrence: prevalence, incidence rate and cumulative incidence. These can be calculated from the results of epidemiological studies conducted specifically to measure disease frequency or from routinely collected data (e.g. surveillance systems).
Read more about: How to measure disease frequency?

• Annette Gerritsen at SABC
• Malaria presentation at PHASA conference