Dr Greenslade, Rabie and Damm

10/07/2025

We have a power outage in Boksburg and we have no phones
Please use the mobile numbers
0717078225
0635138617
Apologies for the inconvenience 😪

03/04/2024

Please note our landline is not working at the moment. Please contact us on the following numbers: 071 707 8225 or 063 513 8617

19/03/2024

Dear patients, please note our landline number is 011 917 9525. All other landline extensions are no longer in service. In case of emergency, please contact us on 071 707 8225 or 063 513 8617.

27/02/2024

Please note, Dr. Damm will be back from study leave on 1 March 2024.

19/10/2023

Good afternoon

Unfortunately we have had a major failure with our telephone comms provider system in our area which will hopefully be resolved soon

Please use the cell phone numbers
0717078225 or
0635138617

We apologise for this inconvenience which is completely out of our hands

16/10/2023

We have been made aware of rumours that Dr Greenslade, Rabie and Damm has been sold and will be closing.
These claims are categorically false.
We are happy to confirm that we have entered into a new lease agreement with our landlord and we are looking forward to continue serving our patients and community in the coming years.

29/06/2021

“Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta.
It all sounds like Greek to me.”
Dr Sheri Fanaroff



Translation from the Greek :
Alpha = First identified in the UK (B.1.1.7)
Beta = First identified in South Africa (B1.351)
Gamma = First identified in Brazil (P.1)
Delta = First identified in India (B.1.617.2)

This weekend, breaking news confirmed what doctors and paramedics in Gauteng have suspected for a few weeks already. The massive spike in Covid cases and exponential growth is being driven by the Delta variant, which originated in India.

Tulio De Oliviero from KRISP, where genome typing takes place, announced that the Delta variant (which originated in India) has now become the dominant strain in several provinces in South Africa, and has displaced the Beta variant (which originated in South Africa). Randomly selected samples over a large area, show 48 out of the last 68 genomes typed, over a wide area, were the delta variant. The available data is about two weeks behind, and already shows Delta variant in 75% of samples in KZN, and around 53% of samples in Gauteng.

IS THE DELTA VARIANT MORE TRANSMISSIBLE?
• The Delta variant is highly transmissible, more than all other variants and spreads far more easily amongst people.
• It is 30% to 60% more contagious than Beta and 100% more than the original strain.
• We are usually seeing whole households of people becoming infected, not just one or two people.
• It may spread very quickly - in other words, close contact doesn’t necessarily need to be for longer than 15 minutes for someone to get infected. Any close contact, especially in a closed room, or any contact without masks, is significant.
• ** People who have already been infected with Beta variant are still susceptible to Delta (in other words, people who had Covid prior to April/ May 2021 may still be able to get Covid again). However, they should still have some immunity, particularly if they had severe disease.

DOES THE DELTA VARIANT CAUSE DIFFERENT SYMPTOMS?
• There is not yet evidence that it causes more severe disease than other variants.
• However in this wave in Johannesburg, we are seeing people staying sicker for longer periods, and also people deteriorating to significant lung disease at a later stage than previously. (So we are needing to monitor some patients longer than the typical ten day isolation period).
• The symptoms may be a bit different with the most prominent reported symptoms being:
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Runny nose, sneezing, congestion
- Loss of taste and smell are less common than with Beta variant (but we do still see this)
- Cough
- Body pains
- Fever

ARE VACCINES STILL EFFECTIVE AGAINST THE DELTA VARIANT?
The data looks quite promising 😊
• Pfizer vaccine showed a 33% effectiveness against Delta after a single dose of vaccine (compared to 49% against Alpha).
• Pfizer showed an 88% effectiveness after TWO doses of vaccine (compared to 93% against Alpha).
• Pfizer showed very high levels of protection against hospitalisation with the Delta variant (94% effective after a single dose and 96% after two doses).
• It was reported that J and J “seems effective” against the delta variant (There is not enough data on this yet - please notify Sisonke ASAP if you develop Covid-19 infection and received a J and J as part of the Sisonke trial for healthcare workers.)

Here is the link to report Covid infection after a J and J vaccine on the sisonke trial
https://is.gd/sisonke_bti

• Anecdotally, in the last two weeks, I currently have had nine patients who have developed Covid-19 infection after having J and J vaccine over four weeks ago - of these, most have mild infection, but one is in hospital. I have had several patients who have developed mild Covid within three weeks of a single Pfizer vaccine, of which two had pneumonia, but were not hospitalized.

CONCLUSIONS
1. The third wave is expected to continue to escalate; now accelerating in Gauteng but other provinces are likely to follow.
2. With 11 500 cases reported in Gauteng yesterday and hospitals already full, we can expect more and more pressure on medical services, to the point where they can’t cope.
3. The Delta variant driving this wave is highly transmissible, and there is a significant risk of reinfection if you have previously been infected with another variant.
4. Although it has not been shown to be more severe, the sheer numbers of people infected means that there will be a higher number of hospitalizations. Lack of resources (oxygen, hospital beds, emergency services) will mean that the morbidity and mortality rate will be higher.
5. Vaccines are proving to be effective against severe illness, hospitalisation and death. Remember to remain cautious even if vaccinated while the community infection rates are so high.
6. If you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, you need to quarantine for ten days, regardless of getting a negative test result. Vaccinated people and those previously infected are NOT EXEMPT from quarantine and isolation as they can still transmit the virus and may still be able to get infected.

You do not want to get infected at this time when hospital bed availability is at its lowest. PLEASE STAY HOME, STAY SAFE AND SANITISED, PROTECT YOURSELVES AND YOUR LOVED ONES.
The Covid protocols remain the same in every interaction, but should be even more stringent :
• wear a good well-fitted 3 layer mask covering nose and mouth when you leave home.
• double masking is a good idea (cloth mask with a surgical mask over, or two surgical masks)
• a visor or glasses will give extra protection
• excellent hand sanitising.
• maintain social distance : at least 1.5 metres away from others, don’t eat with anyone outside of your bubble.
• stay in ventilated spaces (outdoors is preferable if you need to meet up with someone, but masks must be worn).

Listen to this radio interview where Doctor Fanaroff discusses the delta variant.

https://iono.fm/e/1065781

19/06/2021

Please read it and listen to the advice, stay home and stay safe!

Covid-19 Update 19 June 2021
Third wave or Tsunami?
Dr Sheri Fanaroff

I’ve been asked by many the last few days why I haven’t sent out my weekly “Covid-19 Update” in nearly 3 weeks, as I have done at least once weekly since the start of the Pandemic in March 2020. The truth is that I’m tired and I’m busy.

Let me give you a picture of what Johannesburg is like at the moment. Because I think people going about their lives as normal, continuing to deny the severity of the epidemic by socializing, eating out and having play dates, and continuing to debate whether they actually need to complete their 10 days of quarantine after an exposure, must be lucky enough to have not yet had COVID come into their immediate circles.

Gauteng has now surpassed the peak of the first and second waves and it looks like we are gaining momentum, rather than slowing down. While people follow the South African numbers, which “only” added 4000 to 6000 cases daily over the last few weeks and only recently picked up to more than 10 000 cases daily, there hasn’t been enough emphasis on the fact that 60% of these daily new cases have been in the geographically smallest province, Gauteng.

For the last two weeks, it has been increasingly difficult to find a hospital bed, both private or public, in Gauteng. Ambulances wait with sick patients in parking lots outside the hospitals, trying to get a space for the patient in the casualty. People struggling to breathe queue up outside casualty hoping to get in to get some oxygen. And these are people who have already been treated at home by their doctors, but have progressed past the point where home treatment can help them.

In my very small practice, I am currently managing dozens of patients at home who are infected with Covid-19. Some of these are in family groups, where everyone at home is sick. The strain of virus we are seeing is extremely contagious and jumping from one person to the next in a few days. Of these patients at home, several are on home oxygen, many are on strong medications like cortisone and anticoagulants, and some have needed hospital admission. (And for the record, some of these patients have been on Ivermectin, and equally, some have not).
Several of my current COVID patients have had one dose of Pfizer vaccine. Of these, two have COVID pneumonia, demonstrating that one vaccine dose three weeks ago is not yet effective. Three of my patients had had a Johnson and Johnson vaccine over a month ago, but have thankfully had relatively mild illness.

This week for the first time, it has been a struggle to find enough oxygen for patients needing it at home. The major oxygen suppliers now have waiting lists. Most of the “hospital at home” management and nursing services are at capacity. I have spent hours on some days phoning around to hospitals begging for beds for patients who need, only to be told that there are no high care or ICU beds in Gauteng. GPs are forced to manage patients at home who fit the criteria for hospital admission. We are told to send our patients via casualty where they will be “triaged” so that the most deserving / ones who need it most will get a bed. We don’t want to do this as we know our patients will spend hours in casualty and possibly be sent home.
State hospitals are sending home patients with Oxygen levels in their 70’s.

Some of my GP colleagues are managing literally hundreds of patients at home on their own every day. These patients need close monitoring including of vital signs, blood tests and sometimes chest XRays in order to assess and administer the correct medication at the appropriate time. The Jewish community are privileged to have the aid of Hatzola who ease much of the burden for GPs, but who are currently swamped with over 500 patients to look after.

Every day we answer dozens of questions from people who have been exposed at school, at meetings, at lunches and at parties. Every day we send dozens of patients for tests, of which larger and larger percentages come back positive (22% positivity in SA yesterday). Every day I send out quarantine and isolation information and have to convince people that they still need to quarantine for ten days even if they have tested negative.

A reminder that you are not fully vaccinated until at least two weeks after your second Pfizer vaccine. There is no rush to have a second vaccine before 42 days and it is not a good idea to queue at crowded vaccine centres. Rather wait for your appointments. Even when fully vaccinated, there remains some risk of getting infected while the volumes of unvaccinated people remain high and the virus spreads rampantly.

You all know what to do.
• Avoid gatherings.
• Wear your masks (double mask if in a high risk place).
• Social distance
• Stay in ventilated spaces
• Wash and sanitise your hands
• Try to get a vaccine if you qualify (teachers very soon and hopefully over 50s to follow)

As busy and tired as I am, hospital doctors and nurses and facilities are much busier and more tired. So please take this seriously for the next few weeks and don’t add to the statistics.

11/02/2021

Goodbye my friend, mentor and colleague
Will certainly miss you

09/02/2021

Past Senior Partner in our Practice Dr Mike Jordaan sadly succumbed to Covid last week.
A great loss to the Boksburg community.
Our condolences to his wife Jenny and family

Memorial Service of Dr Michael Frederick JordaanStreamed live from The Anglican Cathedral Church of St DunstanBenoni, South AfricaThe Reverend Joe Thompson