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WITH monkeypox cases continuing to spread, many are wondering if – like with other viruses – it’s possible to pick up the infection from touching contaminated objects or surfaces.  The Center for Disease Control in the US, has said you can catch monkeypox by touching an object which has come into contact with an infected person. The virus is most commonly being spread through sexual contact, but is not a sexually transmitted disease However, experts have said risk of transmission through surfaces is very low. Jonathan Ball, professor of medical virology, told The Sun that monkeypox needs “close contact” to spread. The scientist, from Nottingham University, said that the virus “usually” spreads through direct contact with another person. “It canContinue Reading

Monkeypox can become endemic – here's how it can be stopped in its tracks

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The current outbreak in non-endemic countries is being spread entirely from human to human. Kateryna Kon/ Shutterstock Since May of this year, more than 26,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide – prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a public health emergency. What’s unusual about this outbreak is that most of the cases have been reported in countries where the virus is not normally found (otherwise known as “endemic”). And, unlike previous outbreaks based mainly in central and western Africa, the current outbreak isn’t linked to exposure to an infected animal – but is exclusively being spread human-to-human. As case numbers continue to rise worldwide, there are concerns that if more urgent action isn’t taken, monkeypoxContinue Reading

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WHEN an otherwise healthy young woman came down with a nasty cough she brushed it off thinking it was just a bug. Fearing it might be Covid she took multiple tests but when she spotted her neck was swollen she knew it was time to contact her GP. Alix though her cough was Covid but turns out her cough was a sign of something even more deadly Despite her health lifestyle, Alix developed a form of incurable lung cancer Alix Burnard, 29, a sales manager from Berkshire, developed a cough in March 2021. Initially, Alix was convinced she had picked up Covid. But after several negative test results she assumed she must have a virus and thought nothing more ofContinue Reading

Personalised medicine made in hospitals can revolutionise the way diseases are treated – the challenge now will be implementing it

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Manufacturing a treatment this way would mean patients could get their treatment faster. Gorodenkoff/ Shutterstock Imagine a patient with a rare genetic disorder that makes their arms and legs have imprecise and slow movements. For years, the patient has faced serious restrictions in day-to-day life. They tried several treatments, but all have failed to ease the symptoms. Now imagine a university team discovering a therapy that could tackle this condition, with a solution that lies in the patient’s own body. The patient’s blood would be collected, some key cells would be separated in a laboratory, gene-editing techniques would be applied, and personalised medicine, produced with specialised equipment, would be injected back into the patient’s body. A biological process would thenContinue Reading

The Nordic diet: fans claim it rivals its Mediterranean counterpart for health benefits – here's what we know

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Fatty fish, such as salmon, are a staple of the Nordic diet. Christin Klose/ Shutterstock Every month there seems to be a new diet doing the rounds online. One of the latest is the Nordic diet, which some claim could be better for your health than the Mediterranean diet. And research is starting to suggest it could at least have some similar benefits. The Nordic diet is based on the traditional foods available in Nordic countries. The core foods it comprises are whole grains (particularly rye, barley and oats), fruits (especially berries), root vegetables (such as beets, carrots and turnips), fatty fish (including salmon, tuna and mackerel), legumes and low-fat dairy. But unlike the Mediterranean diet which has a longContinue Reading

Retracted papers are used in clinical guidelines – how worried should we be?

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Micolas/Shutterstock In 1998, a now debunked study claimed that there was a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. The fiasco that surrounded this study eroded trust in science and was blamed for a drop in vaccination rates and a sharp increase in cases of measles. In circumstances like this, study results can be removed from academic journals to stop the spread of untrustworthy evidence. This is called “retraction”. Retracted studies are rejected by the scientific community, and, in theory, can’t play any role in clinical or policy decision-making. Retraction can happen for a range of reasons, from scientific fraud (about 60%), to honest mistakes or not following proper ethics procedures. We’ve seen just how damaging it can be whenContinue Reading

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Hundreds of other people could have polio after an adult in the New York City metro area caught the virus and suffered paralysis last month, the state’s top health official said this week. New York state Health Commissioner Mary Bassett warned that the confirmed polio case in an unvaccinated adult, coupled with the detection of the virus in sewage outside the nation’s largest city, could indicate a bigger outbreak is underway. “Based on earlier polio outbreaks, New Yorkers should know that for every one case of paralytic polio observed, there may be hundreds of other people infected,” Bassett said. “Coupled with the latest wastewater findings, the Department is treating the single case of polio as just the tip of theContinue Reading

Another new high for drug deaths in England and Wales – here's what needs to change

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Stokkete/Shutterstock Drug-related deaths in England and Wales have been rising year on year for the past decade. The latest data shows another distressing increase. Drug-related deaths rose more than 6% to a new record of 4,859 deaths in 2021. Some 3,060 of these deaths were related to “drug misuse”. This is a broad term that usually refers to the non-medical use of a range of drugs including cocaine and heroin. During the pandemic there were reports of deteriorating mental health and anxiety and loneliness in particular. Some people will have turned to drugs to try to cope, which is likely to have contributed to the rise in drug deaths seen in 2020 and 2021. Drug deaths are not spread equally.Continue Reading

Monkeypox: an expert explains what gay and bisexual men need to know

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Monkeypox is from the same virus family as smallpox. Kateryna Kon/ Shutterstock Since early May, more than 23,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide. This is the largest ever global outbreak of the disease. Cases have now been reported in 78 countries including the UK, Spain, Germany, France, the US and Brazil. Given the scale of the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) has now declared the current monkeypox epidemic a global health emergency. While anyone can get monkeypox, the current outbreak is overwhelmingly affecting sexually active gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. In fact, our recent study which looked at 528 monkeypox infections since the start of the outbreak found that 98% of theseContinue Reading

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President Joe Biden on Tuesday named a team of disaster management and health officials to lead the U.S. response to the monkeypox outbreak as infections continue to rise. Biden appointed Robert Fenton, an administrator with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as the head of U.S. efforts to quash the outbreak. Fenton currently leads the FEMA region that includes California, one of the states hardest hit by monkeypox. The president named Demetre Daskalakis, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of HIV prevention, as the U.S. deputy monkeypox response coordinator. Daskalakis is an expert on health issues affecting the LGBTQ community, the White House said. Fenton and Daskalakis will work with state and local authorities to ensure theyContinue Reading