Reports grow of repeat infection as experts warn prevalence among school pupils puts older people at risk
As Covid-19 infections surge in England, people are increasingly reporting catching Sars-CoV-2 for a second or even third time.
New analysis has suggested that unvaccinated individuals should expect to be reinfected with Covid-19 every 16 months, on average.
Continue reading...75% rise in referrals for first suspected episode of psychosis between April 2019 and April 2021
Cases of psychosis have soared over the past two years in England as an increasing number of people experience hallucinations and delusional thinking amid the stresses of the Covid-19 pandemic.
There was a 75% increase in the number of people referred to mental health services for their first suspected episode of psychosis between April 2019 and April 2021, NHS data shows.
Continue reading...Expectant mothers tell helpline that midwives are advising them against vaccines despite threat posed by virus
• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage
Pregnant women are being advised by some health professionals not to have the Covid vaccine despite an edict from the NHS that they should encourage them to get the jab. One in six of the most critically ill Covid patients requiring life-saving care are unvaccinated pregnant women, figures released last week show.
Yet messages sent to the Vaccines and Pregnancy helpline, launched on 20 August to help pregnant women navigate information about the vaccine, suggest that some midwives are advising against the jab.
Continue reading...Analysis: as Covid cases reach 40,000 a day, scientists think normalisation is partly to blame for the lack of public reaction
It is one of the conundrums of the current phase of the Covid pandemic: the UK has among the highest number of infections across the world and a death toll that continues to steadily climb, yet the national mood seems sanguine. So is this down to British stoicism, a Keep Calm and Carry on mentality?
Not according to experts. They talk of many factors being at play – and warn it may not last.
Continue reading...Health secretary falls short of apologising for government decision to delay first lockdown but says ‘there are lessons to learn’
The health secretary has said he is sorry for the losses that have occurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but fell short of apologising for the government’s decision to delay lockdown last March.
Sajid Javid’s comments came in response to the publication on Tuesday of a damning health select committee report on lessons learned from the pandemic, which found the government’s management of the outbreak was one of the worst public health failures in British history.
Continue reading...Problems accessing Covid pass cause travellers to be turned away from flight and ferry
Travellers have been blocked from boarding flights and ferries for trips abroad after a four-hour outage of England’s NHS app left people unable to access a Covid pass to prove their vaccine status.
Hundreds tried to download information that many countries require before departure – including a QR code and details about the jabs they have had – but were told to “try again later”, sparking chaos and fury.
Continue reading...Exclusive: combination of drugs causes tumours to vanish in some terminally ill patients, study finds
A new cancer treatment can wipe out tumours in terminally ill head and neck cancer patients, scientists have discovered.
In a landmark trial, a cocktail of immunotherapy medications harnessed patients’ immune systems to kill their own cancer cells and prompted “a positive trend in survival”, according to researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, and the Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust.
Continue reading...Chronic underfunding, Covid and staff shortages blamed for increase in physical and verbal assaults
NHS staff across the UK are facing a “growing tide of abuse” including assaults from patients, which they say is being caused by frustration at long waits for care.
In a strongly worded joint statement, which has been shared with the Guardian, six key medical bodies and staff groups blame patients’ increasingly long delays in receiving treatment on years of successive governments underinvesting in the NHS and not fixing severe workforce shortages.
Continue reading...Lack of EU staff adding to shortages: ‘There aren’t enough to deliver care we need’
Ministers are being warned of a mounting workforce crisis in England’s hospitals as they struggle to recruit staff for tens of thousands of nursing vacancies, with one in five nursing posts on some wards now unfilled.
Hospital leaders say the nursing shortfall has been worsened by a collapse in the numbers of recruits from Europe, including Spain and Italy.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Report from planning exercise in 2016 alerted government of need to stockpile PPE and set up contact tracing system
Senior health officials who war-gamed the impact of a coronavirus hitting the UK, warned four years before the onset of Covid-19 of the need for stockpiles of PPE, a computerised contact tracing system and screening for foreign travellers, the Guardian can reveal.
The calls to step up preparations in areas already identified as shortcomings in the government’s response to Covid, emerged from a previously unpublished report of a health planning exercise in February 2016 that imagined a coronavirus outbreak.
Continue reading...Women who turn down advice from health service staff say they are being coerced with threats of referrals to agencies and police
Pregnant women and new mothers are being referred to social services by midwives for refusing to follow their advice, patient advocacy groups have warned.
Expectant parents who have declined care, including opting out of scans, refusing inductions or failing to attend antenatal appointments, are among those who have faced threats from healthcare professionals amounting to coercion, according to the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services (Aims).
Continue reading...NHS app needed to enter nightclubs, large events and for overseas travel, but users complain it does not work
Scotland’s Covid vaccine passport app is experiencing problems hours after its launch.
The app, which proves someone is fully vaccinated, is needed from Friday to enter nightclubs, large events and for overseas travel. But a number of users have complained it does not work and that the app cannot find their data.
Continue reading...Clinical trial on joint flu, Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccinations reported only mild to moderate side-effects
Flu jabs are safe to give at the same time as the Pfizer or AstraZeneca Covid vaccines, according to the first clinical trial to investigate co-administering the shots in a single appointment.
While some people experienced more side-effects with certain combinations of flu and Covid shots, the ailments were mainly mild to moderate, the study found. The most common side effects included pain at the injection site and temporary fatigue, headache or muscle pain.
Continue reading...Ronapreve, which was used to treat Donald Trump, will be ‘saving lives as early as next week’, says Sajid Javid
A drug given to the former US president Donald Trump when he had coronavirus last year is to be used to treat vulnerable NHS hospital patients.
Last month, the health secretary, Sajid Javid, heralded Ronapreve as the first treatment designed specifically for Covid-19 to receive regulatory approval in the UK.
Continue reading...Simba Mujakachi says government’s ‘hostile environment’ policies deterred him from taking medication
Simba Mujakachi, a personal trainer, was just 29 years old in June 2019 when he suffered a catastrophic stroke that left him comatose. When he awoke, he was paralysed on his left side and unable to talk or eat.
His stroke could have been prevented by relatively inexpensive medication for a blood clotting condition that, as an asylum seeker, he was not entitled to on the NHS.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson announces restrictions that could be used in England if NHS comes under pressure
Boris Johnson has announced the government’s “autumn and winter plan” to combat an anticipated rise in Covid infection rates over the coming months, with a toolkit of restrictions that could be introduced in England if the NHS comes under significant pressure.
Continue reading...Figure highest for almost six months leading to fears of resurgence in virus’ ability to cause serious illness
More than 8,000 people in the UK were in hospital with Covid on Wednesday – the highest figure for nearly six months – leading to fears of a resurgence in the virus’ ability to cause serious illness and death among the population.
In countries with high rates of vaccination, such as the UK, fewer people are predicted to become ill enough to require hospital treatment, even if infection rates remain high. But the latest figures show the highest number of patients on wards since 10 March.
Continue reading...England vaccines minister says passes needed for nightclubs and mass events; Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi residents must receive one dose by 15 September
The BBC reports that Scottish Labour will not support the Scottish government’s plans to introduce vaccine passports.
Anas Sarwar told BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show:
This is not opposition for opposition’s sake. Neither is this an ideological opposition to the principle of vaccine passports. This is about what works, and what’s going to make a meaningful difference. We all agree the vaccine is working in helping reduce hospitalisations and reduce deaths but there is a fear that using vaccine passports might actually entrench vaccine hesitancy rather than encourage uptake.
US officials have expressed optimism that Covid-19 booster shot delivery can start for all adults on 20 September, the goal set by President Joe Biden, as cases continue to rage across the country fueled by the highly transmissible Delta variant.
The officials insist, however, that boosters will not be rolled out without US health agencies’ authorisation, leaving open the possibility of delays.
Related: US officials optimistic Covid booster rollout can start on 20 September
Continue reading...UK and international studies show the impact pandemic has had on health services and patients
The number of solid organ transplants fell dramatically around the world between 2019 and 2020, researchers have found, highlighting the widespread impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on health services and patients.
As the pandemic surged, hospitals were forced to delay potentially life-saving organ transplant surgery, because of resources such as intensive care beds being needed for Covid patients and because of concerns including whether it was safe to treat transplant recipients in hospital.
Continue reading...Outbreak of Delta Covid cases likely to put strain on health services in areas with low vaccination rates, experts say
The Delta variant doubles the risk of Covid hospitalisation compared with the previously dominant Alpha variant, a new study focused largely on unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people has found.
The analysis – based on data collected in England – suggests that outbreaks of the Delta variant are likely to put an additional strain on health services, particularly in places with low rates of vaccination.
Continue reading...