Professor Nathlee Abbai

Person

Professor Nathlee Abbai

 Professor Nathlee Abbai

Telephone

031 260-4439

Email

abbain@ukzn.ac.za

Campus

Medical School

Designation

 Academic Head: Clinical Medicine Laboratory

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2392-0574
 Biosketch Prof Abbai is an Associate Professor and a NRF-Rated Scientist.  Her ongoing research studies are directed towards reproductive tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV in populations from KwaZulu-Natal. Her ongoing studies provide data on the prevalence of viral and bacterial STIs and risk factors associated with infections and diagnostic methods for these infections.   She is involved in studies that investigate potential drug resistance in pathogens responsible for causing sexually transmitted infections and efforts moving towards vaccine design for selected pathogens.  She is affiliated with local (South African, Medical Research Council, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU), National Health Laboratory Services) and international collaborators (Konstanz University in Germany, the Maputo Central Hospital in Mozambique, WHO Collaborating Centre for Gonorrhoea and other STIs, Sweden, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, United States).  Prof Abbai serves the academic community by participating as a: (1) external reviewer/ assessor for postgraduate students from other Universities; (2)  peer reviewer for a host of international journals [International Journal of STD and AIDS, BMC Public health, BMJ Open, AIDS and Behavior, International Journal of Tropical Disease and Health, Annual Research and Review in Biology, International STD Research and Reviews, British Microbiology Research Journal, British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research, British Journal of Education, Society and Behavioural Science and the Journal of Disease and Global Health]; (3) reviewer/assessor for funding protocols submitted to the National Research Foundation and Medical Research Council, UK, and (4) abstract reviewer for the International AIDS Symposium (2015). Prof Abbai also serves as the external moderator for the Medical Biotechnology module offered at the Durban University of Technology. Prof Abbai also serves as a member of the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee, University of KwaZulu-Natal; member of the Sub-Saharan Network for TB and HIV Excellence (SANTHE) and a member of Federation of Infectious Diseases Societies of Southern Africa (FIDSAA).

Prof Abbai has been the recipient of grants/research awards from the National Research Foundation (R165 000.00), German Federation (R2 000000.00) and Institut Mériux (R196 000.00). She has also been the recipient of research equipment grants from UKZN to expand the testing portfolio of the laboratory which she heads (R565 000.00 for 2019 and R507 000.00 for 2018).

Selected Publications (2018-current)

 

  1. Nonkululeko Mabaso and Nathlee Abbai. Distribution of genotypes in relation to metronidazole susceptibility patterns in Trichomonas vaginalis isolated from South African pregnant women. Accepted in Parasitology Research. April 2021.
  1. Oree G, Naicker M, Maise HC, and Abbain NS. Comparison of endocervical swabs to cultured isolates for the detection of antimicrobial resistance determinants in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The Journal of Medical Laboratory Science & Technology South Africa. 2021;3(1):8-15.

 

  1. Nonkululeko Mabaso and Nathlee Abbai. A review on Trichomonas vaginalis infections in women from Africa. Accepted in South African Journal of infectious Diseases, April 2021.
  1. Oree G, Naicker M, Maise HC, Tinarwo P and Abbain NS. Tracking antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae from the molecular level using endocervical swabs. Accepted for publication in the journal, Lab Medicine, 2021
  1. Oree G, Naicker M, Maise HC, Tinarwo P and Abbain NS. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated from South African pregnant women. Accepted for publication in the journal, Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2021.
  1. Naicker D, Naicker M, Dessai F, Ramsuran V, Giandhari J, Tinarwo P and Abbai NS. Strong correlation between urine and vaginal swab samples for bacterial vaginosis. Accepted in the Southern African Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2021.
  2. Naicker M, Dessai F, Singh R, Mitchev N, Tinarwo P and Abbai NS Mycoplasma hominis does not share common risk factors with other genital pathogens”: Findings from a South African pregnant cohort. Accepted in the Southern African Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2021.
  1. Oree G, Naicker M, Maise HC, Tinarwo P, Ramsuran V and Abbai NS. Comparison of methods for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from South African women attending antenatal care. International journal of STD & AIDS. 2021: 0956462420971439.
  1. Naicker M, Singh R, van der Westhuizen D, Tinarwo P and Abbai NS. Mycoplasma genitalium; pregnant women; azithromycin; macrolide resistance; 23S rRNA gene mutations; KwaZulu-Natal. Southern African Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2021; 36: 7.
  1. IB Mpofana, M Nyirenda, NS Abbai. Evidence for the use of the Alere Afinion™ AS100 for measuring the levels of C-reactive protein in an elderly South African population. The Journal of Medical Laboratory Science & Technology South Africa 2020;2(2):36-40.
  1. Mabaso, N., P. Tinarwo, and N. Abbai, Lack of association between Mycoplasma hominis and Trichomonas vaginalis symbiosis in relation to metronidazole resistance. Parasitology Research, 2020: p. 1-8.
  1. Mitha M, Pillay M, Moodley JY, Balakrishna Y, Abbai N, Bhagwan S, et al. Laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis in human immunodeficiency virus–seropositive patients: Correlation with the uniform case definition. Southern African Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2020; 35(1):5.

 

  1. Pillay K, Nzimande S, Naicker M, Ramsuran V, Tinarwo P, Abbai N. Prevalence of Genotypes and Subtypes of Gardnerella vaginalis in South African Pregnant Women. Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2020; 2020.
  1. Chetty R, Mabaso N, Abbai N. Genotypic Variation in Trichomonas vaginalis Detected in South African Pregnant Women. Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2020;2020.
  1. Govender S, Mbambo L, Nyirenda M, Sebitloane M, Abbai N. Herpes simplex virus-2 infections in pregnant women from South Africa: Evaluation of the ImmunoFLOW rapid test. African Journal of Laboratory Medicine. 2020;9(1):5.
  1. Oree G, Naicker M, Maise HC and Abbai NS.  2020. Excellent Correlation between Phenotypic and Genotypic Assays for the Detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles. Int J Infect Dis ther 01(01): 1–5.

 

  1. Mabaso, Nonkululeko; Naicker, Camille; Nyirenda, Makandwe; Abbai, Nathlee. Prevalence and risk factors for Trichomonas vaginalis Infection in South African Pregnant Women. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 0(0) 1–8, 2020, DOI: 10.1177/0956462420907758.
  1. Dessai, Fazana; Nyirenda, Makandwe; Sebitloane, Motshedisi; Abbai, Nathlee. Diagnostic evaluation of the BD Affirm VPIII assay as a point-of-care test for diagnosis of Bacterial vaginosis, Trichomoniasis and Candidiasis. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 0(0) 1–9, 2020, DOI: 10.1177/0956462419895684.
  1. Nonzwakazi Mnqonywa, Nathlee Abbai, Viswanath Ragupathy, Gita Ramjee, Indira Hewlett and Dhayendre Moodley. Exploring the immunomodulatory role of depot medroxyprogesterones acetate and endogenous progesterone levels in HIV infected and uninfected women. 2019. BMC Res Notes, 12:745 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-019-4785-z.
  1. Meleshni Naicker, Nathlee Abbai and Strini Naidoo. Bipolar limbic expression of auto-immune thyroid targets: thyroglobulin and thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor. Metabolic Brain Disease, 2019.  1-18. 10.1007/s11011-019-00437-w
  1. Resha Boodhram, Dhayendre Moodley, Nathlee Abbai and Gita Ramjee. Association of endogenous progesterone levels in young women using hormonal contraception with recent HIV-1 infection. BMC Women’s Health, (2019), 19:63 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-019-0761-y.1-6.
  1. Nathlee S Abbai, Shanthie Govender & Makandwe Nyirenda. Herpes simplex virus-2 infections in pregnant women from Durban, South Africa: prevalence, risk factors and co-infection with HIV-1. Southern African Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2018; 0(0):1–7 https://doi.org/10.1080/23120053.2018.1531479
  1. N S Abbai, M Nyirenda, T Reddy, PhD; G Ramjee, on behalf of the SHIOP team.

Good correlation between the Afinion AS100 analyser and the ABX Pentra 400 analyser for the measurement of glycosylated haemoglobin and lipid levels in older adults in Durban, South Africa. South African Medical Journal.  January 2018, Vol. 108, No. 1: 50-55

  1. M. Nyirenda, N.S. Abbai, J. Naidoo, G. Ramjee, on behalf of the SHIOP team. Sexual activity and healthcare-seeking behaviour: A cross-sectional study of older adults in an HIV endemic South African setting.  Southern African Journal of Demography   Volume 18 (1), April 2018. 7-57

Abbai NS, Nyirenda M, Naidoo S, Ramjee G. Prevalent Herpes Simplex Virus-2 Increases the Risk of Incident Bacterial Vaginosis in Women from South Africa. AIDS and behavior 2018:1-9