Clinical trials

The Childhood Hypertension Consortium of South Africa (CHCSA) was established to foster relationships between the healthcare sector and schools through community engagement and outreach as well as contributing to the decolonization of normative paediatric blood pressure reference values. To date, there has been no nation-wide project in South Africa to determine nationally representative normal blood pressure reference values, nor to estimate the true prevalence of hypertension in the paediatric population of the country. This study will provide critical information on the understanding of blood pressure and hypertension in children, especially of African ancestry. Not only will this effort contribute to the development of the first nationally representative normal reference values of blood pressure but will also benefit healthcare providers in the sector with a clear guideline on the management of high blood pressure in children as developed by experts working with these challenges daily.

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the early bactericidal activity, early inflammatory response, and safety of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) supplementation in adult patients (aged 18- 45 years) with newly diagnosed, bacteriologically confirmed drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis. The main questions it aims to answers are: * Does adjunct n-3 LCPUFA supplementation reduce the sputum culture time to positivity * Does it improve inflammatory markers and TB treatment outcomes compared to placebo Researchers will compare daily supplementation with \~2g n-3 LCPUFA (EPA and DHA ) to placebo (high linoleic sunflower oil) to determine effects on bactericidal activity, inflammation, and clinical outcomes. Participants will: * Be randomly assigned to receive either n-3 LCPUFA or Placebo daily for 8 weeks with the intensive phase of TB treatment * Attend clinical visit baseline, and follow up visit mostly weekly for 2 months and then monthly for 4 months of the continuous phase of TB treatment * Provide blood, sputum and urine samples for biomarkers and metabolomic analysis * Undergo assessments of iron status, body composition and muscle strength