Category Archives: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Non-compliant online STI tests put patients at risk, experts warn

Posted on by

Few sexually transmitted infection test kits available online meet official standards, BMJ study finds

Patients are being put at risk in the UK because very few sexually transmitted infection (STI) tests offered online meet official standards, experts have warned.

The NHS provides free in-person tests for STIs via its network of sexual health and genitourinary medicine clinics. Patients can also order tests via the internet from both NHS-commissioned and private providers, a practice that has become increasingly popular during the pandemic.

Continue reading...

Will Omicron kill Christmas? How science stacks up in boosters v Covid variant battle

Posted on by

Analysis: UK faces grim winter if vaccines offer poor overall protection, but if the virus has weak powers to evade immunity, hospital cases can be contained

Two competing forces will determine Omicron’s impact on the nation over the next few weeks. The power of booster jabs to give last-minute protection against Covid-19 will be pitted against the new variant’s ability to elude existing immunity. The outcome will decide whether our festive season is going to be muted or miserable.

If enough arms are jabbed with booster vaccines, while Omicron turns out to have poor powers to evade immunity, then there is hope hospital cases will be contained and the NHS will be protected. Severe restrictions in the new year – including the prospect of lockdowns – could be avoided.

Continue reading...

Scientists fear falling trust in Boris Johnson could harm bid to curb Omicron surge

Posted on by

Researchers say new rules may be needed to cut deaths, but there are concerns that ‘fed-up’ people will ignore government

Ministers announced a huge expansion of the booster vaccine campaign on Saturday night, amid warnings that further restrictions will be needed imminently to prevent tens of thousands of deaths.

With new Covid measures being discussed in Whitehall and claims of people being turned away from booster walk-in centres, third jabs will be opened up to those in their 30s from Monday in England. Those who had their second jab three months ago or more will be eligible.

Continue reading...

Satellite imagery of Aden indicates scale of pandemic in Yemen

Posted on by

Academics’ analysis of burial plots points to excess deaths level in crisis-ridden country

A groundbreaking study using high-resolution satellite imagery to analyse graveyards has found that deaths have nearly doubled in Aden, the centre of Yemen’s coronavirus outbreak.

The discovery has given a sense of the true scale of the havoc the pandemic has wreaked on the vulnerable country.

Continue reading...

Regular UK lockdowns could help control Covid, says Sage expert

Posted on by

Strategy of repeated ‘circuit breakers’ would reduce total number of cases, according to leading scientific adviser

One of the government’s scientific advisers has said repeated “mini lockdowns” could be effective as a tool to bring Covid-19 cases under control.

The suggestion from Professor John Edmunds, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), comes amid growing evidence the virus’s prevalence is growing among older, more vulnerable people.

Continue reading...

K number: what is the coronavirus metric that could be crucial as lockdown eases?

Posted on by

The K value sheds light on how the transmission rate varies and can help identify clusters

When deciding how and when lockdown restrictions will be lifted across the UK, the government has said the R value, denoting how many people on average one infected person will themselves infect, is crucial. But experts say another metric is becoming increasingly important: K.

Continue reading...

UK researchers hope dogs can be trained to detect coronavirus

Posted on by

£500,000 government funding for project that ‘could revolutionise’ screening

Dogs are to be trained to try to sniff out the coronavirus before symptoms appear in humans, under trials launched with £500,000 of government funding.

Dogs have already been successfully trained to detect the odour of certain cancers, malaria and Parkinson’s disease, and a new study will look at whether labradors and cocker spaniels can be trained to detect Covid-19 in people.

Continue reading...

‘Finally, a virus got me’: Ebola expert on nearly dying of coronavirus

Posted on by

Peter Piot tells of his brush with death and predicts people will suffer effects of the virus for years

Peter Piot, the scientist who helped discover the Ebola virus, and the director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has told of his brush with death after contracting Covid-19.

The professor had never previously been seriously ill, but after 40 years studying and leading the global response to infectious diseases including HIV and Aids, he said that “finally, a virus got me”.

Continue reading...

Global heating driving spread of mosquito-borne dengue fever

Posted on by

Record numbers across Asia and Americas infected as rising temperatures extend disease to places once seen as safe

Rising temperatures across Asia and the Americas have contributed to multiple severe outbreaks of dengue fever globally over the past six months, making 2019 the worst year on record for the disease.

In 1970 only nine countries faced severe dengue outbreaks. But the disease, which is spread by mosquitoes that can only survive in warm temperatures, is now seen in more than 100 countries. There are thought to be 390 million infections each year.

Continue reading...