‘Disease detective’ traces the contacts for Covid-19

The term ‘Disease Detective’ would be an apt description for Dr Unarine Makhungo, a field epidemiologist attached to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) who is currently stationed at the Limpopo Department of Health.
Her work involves investigating the causes of diseases, to identify those who are at risk, and to determine how to control the disease from spreading.
“During the current pandemic, I have been responsible for disease surveillance in order to determine who is mostly affected and to determine trends.”
She then compiles these daily trends into a report.
“I am able to pick up who is mostly affected and where the hotspots are. It is then easier to strategise a response against the virus.”
Contact-tracing also resorts among the duties of an epidemiologist, she explains.
“Contacts can be defined as close, and casual contacts. Close contacts are those who have come into contact with a confirmed case without the use of Personal Protective Equipment, no use of sanitiser and no social distancing between them.
“A casual case is someone who has come into contact with a confirmed case, but all the safety guidelines were being adhered to.
“When it comes to casual contacts, we also consider indirect exposure such as the environment where the two persons were in contact. This includes work equipment, communal bathrooms and shared cutlery. That is also the reason why we advocate for shared surfaces that should be disinfected regularly.”
Makhungo is originally from Ha-Makhuvha Village in Ha-Tshivhase and matriculated at Muhuyuwathomba Secondary school in 2007. She then pursued a Bachelors in nursing science at the University of Venda (Univen), before she decided to enrol for a post-graduate diploma in public health at Unisa.
She says she developed a love for nursing thanks to her mother, who was a professional nurse.
“I was able to see the work of a nurse first-hand. Seeing the impact my mother was able to make in trying to bring people to good health, was key in developing my career.”
She later also enrolled for a scholarship from the NICD at the University of Pretoria to obtain a Master’s degree in public health, under the South African field epidemiologist training programme.

Story: Umpha Manenzhe