​​​​Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

​Staff 


 

Dr Heather Finlayson

Dr Heather Finlayson is a Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist with an interest in Antibiotic Stewardship, Tuberculosis and General Paediatrics.

She is a paediatrican working in the General Paediatric ward caring sick children as well as a high care unit.  The ward admits approximately 1200 patients per year with approximately a third of them requiring high care support on admission.

Qualifications and training:

Dr Finlayson studied for her MBChB at UCT and completed  her paediatric and infectious diseases training at Red Cross War Memorial Hospital.  She has been employed in General Paediatrics at Tygerberg Hospital since 2009.

She currently chairs the hospitals antibiotic stewardship committee and sits on the Ministerial Advisory Committee for Antimicrobial resistance.

She is a current examiner for Paediatrics Part 1 and Part 2 for the Colleges of Medicine and has previously examined and convened the Diploma in child Health.

Research Interests:

Dr Finlayson has a passion for Antibiotic Stewardship, infection control as well providing good clinical care within a resource restricted setting.


 

Publica​tions:

  1. Antiretroviral treatment for children. Eley B, Davies MA, Apolles P, Cowburn C, Buys H, Zampoli M, Finlayson H, King S, Nuttall J. S Afr Med J. 2006 Sep;96(9 Pt 2):988-93.
  2. Experience with pandemic infuenza A/H1N1 2009 at Tygerberg Children' Hospital, South Africa Experience with pandemic infuenza A/H1N1 2009 at Tygerberg Children' Hospital, South Africa A. Dramowski, M. Tshuma, H. Finlayson, M F Cotton & H. Rabie. Southern African Journal of Epidemiology and Infection, 26:3, 99-102, DOI:10.1080/10158782.2011.11441434
  3. Updated recommendations for the management of upper respiratory tract infections in South Africa. Brink AJ, Cotton M, Feldman C, Finlayson H, Friedman R, Green R, Hendson W, Hockman M, Maartens G, Madhi S, Reubenson G, Silverbauer E, Zietsman I. S Afr Med J. 2015 Apr 6;105(5):344-52. doi: 10.7196/samj.8716. Review
  4. Increased risk for and mortality from invasive pneumococcal disease in HIV-exposed but uninfected infants aged <1 year in South Africa, 2009-2013. von Mollendorf C, von Gottberg A, Tempia S, Meiring S, de Gouveia L, Quan V, Lengana S, Avenant T, du Plessis N, Eley B, Finlayson H, Reubenson G, Moshe M, O'Brien KL, Klugman KP, Whitney CG, Cohen C; Group for Enteric, Respiratory and Meningeal Disease Surveillance in South Africa. Clin Infect Dis. 2015 May 1;60(9):1346-56. doi: 10.1093/cid/civ059. Epub 2015 Feb 2.
  5. Risk factors for invasive pneumococcal disease among children less than 5 years of age in a high HIV prevalence setting, South Africa, 2010 to 2012. von Mollendorf C, Cohen C, de Gouveia L, Naidoo N, Meiring S, Quan V, Lindani S, Moore DP, Reubenson G, Moshe M, Eley B, Hallbauer UM, Finlayson H, Madhi SA, Conklin L, Zell ER, Klugman KP, Whitney CG, von Gottberg A; South African IPD Case–Control Study Group. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2015 Jan;34(1):27-34. doi: 10.1097
  6. Preventive therapy for child contacts of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: a prospective cohort study. Seddon JA, Hesseling AC, Finlayson H, Fielding K, Cox H, Hughes J, Godfrey-Faussett P, Schaaf HS. Clin Infect Dis. 2013 Dec;57(12):1676-84.
  7. Vital signs for children at triage: a multicentre validation of the revised South African Triage Scale (SATS) for children. Twomey M, Cheema B, Buys H, Cohen K, de Sa A, Louw P, Ismail M, Finlayson H, Cunningham C, Westwood A. S Afr Med J. 2013 May;103(5):304-8.
  8. The antibiotic resistance and prescribing in European Children project: a neonatal and pediatric antimicrobial web-based point prevalence survey in 73 hospitals worldwide. Versporten A, Sharland M, Bielicki J, Drapier N, Vankerckhoven V, Goossens H; ARPEC Project Group Members. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2013 Jun;32(6):e242-53.
  9. Effectiveness of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against invasive pneumococcal disease in South African children: a case-control study. Cohen C, von Mollendorf C, de Gouveia L, Lengana S, Meiring S, Quan V, Nguweneza A, Moore DP, Reubenson G, Moshe M, Madhi SA, Eley B, Hallbauer U, Finlayson H, Varughese S, O'Brien KL, Zell ER, Klugman KP, Whitney CG, von Gottberg A; South African IPD Case-Control Study Group. Lancet Glob Health. 2017 Mar;5(3):e359-e369. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30043-8. Epub 2017 Jan 28.
  10. The Worldwide Antibiotic Resistance and Prescribing in European Children (ARPEC) point prevalence survey: developing hospital-quality indicators of antibiotic prescribing for children.Versporten A, Bielicki J, Drapier N, Sharland M, Goossens H; ARPEC project group.. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2016 Apr;71(4):1106-17. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkv418. Epub 2016 Jan 8.PMID:26747104
  11. The impact of a change in referral pathway on a paediatric short-stay ward in Cape Town, South Africa. H Finlayson, L Smit, T M Esterhuizen,M Kruger S Afr J Child Health 2016;10(2):134-138. DOI:10.7196/SAJCH.2016.v10i2.1054
  12. The impact of cerebrospinal fluid viral analysis on empiric antibiotic use in children admitted to Tygerberg Children's Hospital with suspected meningitis. I Kruger, J Marias, H Finlayson. Southern African Journal of Infectious Diseases,33:4, 101-105, DOI: 10.1080/23120053.2018.1469850
  13. Paediatric antimicrobial use at a South African hospital. Lotte R Koopmans; Heather Finlayson; Andrew Whitelaw; Eric de Cloedt; Angela Dramowski, Int J Infect Dis. 2018 Sep;74:16-23. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2018.05.020. Epub 2018 Jun 20.
  14. Neonatal listeriosis during a countrywide epidemic: a tertiary hospital's experience. A Dramowski, L Lloyd, S Holgate, A Bekker, M Aucamp, K Reddy,H Finlayson; S Afr Med J. 2018 Oct 2;108(10):818-827. doi: 10.7196/SAMJ.2018.v108i10.13207. PMID: 30421708
  15. A retrospective review of Listeria Monocytogenes infection at Tygerberg Children's Hospital from 2006 – 2016: Is empiric ampicillin still indicated after the first month of life? K Oppel, S Holgate, H Finlayson; S Afr Med J. 2018 Oct 26; 108(11):937-943. doi: 10.7196/SAMJ.2018.v108i11.13212. PMID: 30645960
  16. Clinical and cardiac safety of long-term levofloxacin in children treated for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis  Anthony J. Garcia-Prats, Heather R. Draper, Heather Finlayson, Jana Winckler, André Burger, Barend Fourie, Stephanie Thee, Anneke C. Hesseling, H. Simon Schaaf ; Clin Infect Dis. 2018 Nov 13;67(11):1777-1780. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciy416.
  17. PMID: 29788331
  18. Antimicrobial consumption and resistance in adult hospital inpatients in 53 countries: results of an internet-based global point prevalence survey.
  19. Versporten A, Zarb P, Caniaux I, Gros MF, Drapier N, Miller M, Jarlier V, Nathwani D, Goossens H; Global-PPS network.  Lancet Glob Health. 2018 Jun;6(6):e619-e629. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30186-4. Epub 2018 Apr 23. PMID: 29681513
  20. High Rates of Prescribing Antimicrobials for Prophylaxis in Children and Neonates: Results from the Antibiotic Resistance and Prescribing in European Children Point Prevalence Survey. Hufnagel M, Versporten A, Bielicki J, Drapier N, Sharland M, Goossens H; ARPEC Project Group . J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2018 Mar 22. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piy019. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:  29579259
  21. Use of the WHO Access, Watch, and Reserve classification to define patterns of hospital antibiotic use (AWaRe): an analysis of paediatric survey data from 56 countries. Hsia Y, Lee BR, Versporten A, Yang Y, Bielicki J, Jackson C, Newland J, Goossens H, Magrini N, Sharland M; GARPEC and Global-PPS networks. Lancet Glob Health. 2019 Jul;7(7):e861-e871. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30071-3