Dr. Florette Treurnicht

Florette Treurnicht is a South African medical virologist and infectious diseases researcher affiliated with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the University of the Witwatersrand. Her work centers on respiratory viruses and vaccine-preventable infections, with a strong focus on public health surveillance and laboratory-based epidemiology in high HIV prevalence settings.

Her research extensively addresses respiratory syncytial virus, examining incidence, transmission dynamics, risk factors for severe disease, genetic susceptibility, and economic burden. She has contributed to influential cohort and surveillance studies that inform vaccine strategies, particularly for vulnerable infants and communities affected by HIV.

Additional contributions span SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity, pneumococcal carriage, pertussis transmission, and hepatitis B immunity gaps. Through integrated laboratory and population-level analyses, her work strengthens understanding of pathogen circulation, co-infection, and health system impact, shaping evidence-based infectious disease prevention policies in South Africa.