NSW Health issued an alert on Wednesday advising people to look out for signs and symptoms of measles after a confirmed case was found to be infectious while travelling through Sydney International Airport, landing in the ACT.
The adult infected with the "very contagious" airborne virus was returning from Asia which, like Europe, has been experiencing ongoing outbreaks.
Director of Communicable Diseases Branch for NSW Health, Dr Christine Selvey, has said it is important to look out for symptoms if you, or someone you know, were on this person's flight or visited the below locations at the specified times.
People may have been exposed to the virus in the following locations:
Air India flight AI 302 from Delhi to Sydney, arriving in Sydney on Saturday January 20 at 8.10am,
Sydney Airport Terminal 1 International Arrivals (including baggage claim and customs) and Bay 9, bus and coach bays, on the morning of January 20.
Murrays Bus Sydney to Canberra Express, departing Sydney International Airport around 10.30am on January 20. ACT Health is contacting individuals who travelled on this bus service.
Measles is a vaccine-preventable viral disease that is spread through the air when someone who is infectious coughs or sneezes. It is "highly contagious" and can cause "serious complications", according to NSW Health. It remains a common cause of death in children under 5 in some parts of the world.
Symptoms "may appear between 7 and 18 days after exposure" and can include:
"It's important for people to stay vigilant if theyve been exposed," Selvey said. "[And] this should be a reminder for everyone to check that they are protected against measles, which is very infectious.
"Anyone born during or after 1966 needs to ensure they have received two doses of measles vaccine, this is particularly important prior to overseas travel, as measles outbreaks are occurring in several regions of the world at the moment."
Story continues
The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is "safe and effective" against measles, NSW Health advises. It is included in the National Immunisation Program (NIP) for children between 12 and 18 months of age and is also free in NSW for anyone born during or after 1966 who hasnt already had two doses.
Children aged 6 to 12 months can have their first dose of the MMR vaccine earlier if they are travelling to areas considered high risk for measles after checking in with their GP. Those who are unsure of whether they have had two doses "should get a vaccine as additional doses are safe".
If you, or a loved one, is experiencing measles symptoms, or have questions about measles, please call your GP or Healthdirect on 1800 022 222.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
MMR
UN agency calls for urgent vaccination efforts in region to prevent further spread of disease
The World Health Organization has issued an urgent warning over measles after an alarming 30-fold rise in cases across Europe.
The UN agency reported an enormous increase in numbers affected by the disease, which it said had accelerated in recent months. More than 30,000 cases were reported between January and October last year, compared with 941 cases in the whole of 2022 a more than 30-fold rise.
Two in five cases were in children between one and four years old. One in five were in people aged 20 and over. The trend is expected to worsen if people do not vaccinate their children against the disease, the WHO said.
The warning came just days after the UK declared a national incident amid a surge in cases, and launched a campaign to encourage parents to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine for their children.
Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said: We have seen in the region not only a 30-fold increase in measles cases, but also nearly 21,000 hospitalisations and five measles-related deaths (reported in two countries).
Vaccination is the only way to protect children from this potentially dangerous disease. Urgent vaccination efforts are needed to halt transmission and prevent further spread.
Measles can lead to serious complications, lifelong disability and death. It can affect the lungs and brain and cause pneumonia, meningitis, blindness and seizures.
It is vital that all countries are prepared to rapidly detect and timely respond to measles outbreaks, which could endanger progress towards measles elimination, Kluge added.
The WHO said that falling vaccination rates were to blame, but also that more people were travelling abroad after Covid-19, increasing the risk of cross-border disease transmission and spread within communities.
The WHO Europe region comprises 53 countries, including Russia and some in central Asia, and 40 of those registered measles cases in 2023, it said. Russia and Kazakhstan fared the worst, with 10,000 cases each. In western Europe, Britain had the most cases, with 183.
Vaccination rates for the first dose of the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, slipped from 96% in 2019 to 93% in 2022 across Europe. Uptake of the second dose fell from 92% to 91% over the same period.
About 1.8 million infants in the WHOs Europe region were not vaccinated against measles between 2020 and 2022.
Vaccination rates against measles have been dropping around the world.
In 2022, 83% of children received a first measles vaccine during their first year of life, up from 81% coverage in 2021, but down from 86% before the pandemic, according to the WHO.
In 2021, there were an estimated 128,000 measles deaths worldwide, mostly among undervaccinated or unvaccinated children under five.
In the UK, the head of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned last week that the UK was on a trajectory for everything getting much worse in the spread of measles.
Prof Dame Jenny Harries said concerted action was needed to tackle the virus, and suggested most people were not against their child receiving the MMR jab, but that they needed more information to feel confident about their decision.
She added: What we are seeing at the moment with measles is that people have forgotten what a serious illness it is We have had very high vaccination rates, especially for young families, but they are low at the moment.
Figures released by the UKHSA showed there have been 216 confirmed measles cases and 103 probable cases in the West Midlands since 1 October.
Last week the UKHSA declared a national incident, which it said was an internal mechanism signalling the growing public health risk and enabling it to focus work in specific areas.
{{topLeft}}
{{bottomLeft}}
{{topRight}}
{{bottomRight}}
{{.}}
One-timeMonthlyAnnual
Other
Wia dis foto come from, Getty Images
For future, scientists suppose fit use "vaccine recipes" wey already dey ground to make new vaccines
24 January 2024, 09:04 WAT
Health industry leaders for di World Economic Forum for Davos, Switzerland, don dey tok on top di importance to plan for anoda outbreak of global pandemic, wetin dem call "Disease X".
Di World Health Organization (WHO) don already warn before say di preparation dey important to take avoid di kain kasala wey di Covid 19 pandemic bin cause.
Di pandemic bin ova take medical systems wey bin no fit cope and di economy bin lose trillions of dollars.
Na hypothetical term wey WHO adopt to refer to some currently unknown infectious condition wey dey capable of causing epidemic or if e spread across multiple kontris or continents a pandemic.
Di term gan-gan bin start before di Covid 19 pandemic. E bin dey di list of priority diseases wey WHO bin bring come outside for 2018.
Di R&D Blueprint na global strategy wey sabi pipo bin collabo to put togeda. Na WHO bin arrange dis collaboration to make sure say preparation plans dey.
Di preparation na to make sure activation of research and development activities for epidemics happun sharparly.
Di reason behind am na to sharparly speed di reach of beta tests, vaccines and medicines wey fit save lives and avoid ogbonge kasala.
We don see some global disease outbreaks recently: Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), swine flu, Mers (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), Ebola and Covid-19.
Health sabi pipo fear say di next major pandemic fit dey road dey come and fit worse pass wetin di Covid-19 do.
Wia dis foto come from, Getty Images
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses world leaders for Davos
While Disease X no dey known say e de ground already, researchers, scientists, and sabi pipo hope say dem fit first am to come up with plan to fight di virus and prepare di health system if e turn pandemic.
For di World Economic Forum last week, one panel wey dem call Preparing for Disease X" wey WHO oga Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus bin lead tok about di "novel efforts wey dey needed to prepare healthcare systems for di multiple challenges ahead" if pandemic wey dey more deadly happun.
"Pipo dey wey say dis fit create panic. E dey beta to prepare for somtin wey fit happun becos e don happun for our history many times."
Di Covid 19 pandemic shock di world but as BBC Future tok for 2021, "but for years epidemiologists and oda sabi pipo don dey warn say we dey arrange for global pandemic."
Most of dose sabi pipo dey worry how di pandemics dey come from animals.
In fact 75% of new diseases wey dey come up dey called zoonotic, wey dem dey call diseases wey dey spread from animals reach human beings.
Covid 19 wey dey thought to come from pangolins wey dem dey sell for markets for China no dey different. But like Covid 19, zoonotic diseases don be like say e dey more at risk becos of wetin humans dey do.
Humans effect on climate, how dem dey enta wildlife house and global travel bin help di spread of animal borne diseases.
Dat one plus urbanisation, overpopulation and global trade, don make am di perfect setting for more pandemics to come, na wetin some sabi pipo believe.
Wia dis foto come from, PA
Di first Covid-19 vaccine bin dey delivered outside of a clinical trial setting for early December 2020
Dr Tedros tok for di World Economic Forum panel session say WHO don already start to dey implement measures to take prepare for anoda outbreak.
Dis include pandemic fund and "technology transfer hub" for South Africa wey go ginger di local production of vaccines and go help overcome issues of vaccine inequality throughout rich and poor kontris dem.
Di European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention recommend for 2022 report to strengthen existing systems instead of developing new ones for pandemic.
Dem also encourage make dem test any new systems before new pandemic start.
For June 2022, di WHO publish 10 proposals to ginger di continuous, systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health-related data.
Di proposal say, "effective disease surveillance system dey important to find disease outbreaks sharp before dem spread, cost lives and become hard to control".
Di WHO also gree say di outbreaks no always dey come from identified source but "fit dey caused by pathogen wey neva dey sighted as somtin wey fit cause human diseases."
And most pipo dey hope for more advances for vaccine technology.
Plenti Covid 19 vaccines bin dey available all ova di world wit di year wey di outbreak start, wey be ogbonge moment for vaccine development sake of di speed wey dem make dem.
For future, scientists for dey able to quick arrange existing "vaccine recipes" to create new ones to help protect pipo.
The UK is really unsafe from future pandemic threats, a leading academic has told MPs.
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director at the Oxford Vaccine Group, said he was concerned that not enough work was being done to research different viruses and bacteria which pose a threat.
Sir Andrew, whose team created the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab during the pandemic, said there had already been decades of work into coronavirus vaccines before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
But we are nowhere near the beginning of that starting gun for other microbes, he told the Science and Technology Committee.
We already knew a lot about coronaviruses and how to make vaccines for them there had been decades of research on coronavirus vaccines, Sir Andrew said.
One of the problems that we have is most of those other microbes which are out there which could threaten us, we havent done any of that work.
If it were to take 10 or 20 years to do the research and development we are nowhere near the beginning of that starting gun.
I think thats one of the areas I see the most concern about are we doing enough to look at the different families of viruses and bacteria which we already know are a threat but we dont have enough understanding about?
And that work needs years of investment to try and move it forwards.
He added: If you think about the defence against something unknown, which is clearly a really important way to think about pandemics, we dont know when theyre going to happen were pretty sure they will happen again, it might be in a year or it might be in 50 years.
Then you think about other types of defence we have such as military defence I think the Governments figures (are) about 45 billion investment in a year into defence we recognise that we need to do stuff for peacetime, even though hopefully we dont have to deploy that.
Story continues
But for pandemics were putting a fraction of that, tiny fraction of that into preparedness.
And so for me, we are really unsafe at this moment for future pandemic threats, because we just dont have that knowledge base that you need to even start the gun as we did in 2020 and even then it took 11 months to have a vaccine.
Meanwhile the former chairman of the UK Vaccine Taskforce launched a scathing attack on the Government, telling MPs that ministers had destroyed almost all the work of the group of experts.
Dr Clive Dix, former deputy chair of the taskforce who took over as chair in late 2020, said the UK had not built upon the successes of the taskforce, adding: The reason the taskforce was formed was because there was no infrastructure to work across industry, academia and government to actually pull together what we did What Ive seen since April 2021 is a complete demise of all the activities that made that thing work, literally gone.
What weve seen is a whole list of incompetent decisions being made.
He said the Government trumpeted the success of the taskforce and then destroyed almost everything that was going on.
Dr Dix, who is now chief executive at C4X Discovery, added: We have less resilience now because a lot of the manufacturers have walked away from the UK because of how badly they were treated in the tail end of the Vaccine Taskforce.
He highlighted how the vaccine deal with French firm Valneva was terminated before the clinical trial results were even published, saying that the decision nearly put the company on its knees.
Meanwhile Dr Dix criticised the UK for not having a strong relationship with British vaccine manufacturer GSK.
Asked whether the right lessons have been learned by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Government, he said: The lessons were learned by a small group of us that were running the Vaccine Taskforce, and it never really got transported into the current thinking of the Government.
Dr Dix also criticised ministers for putting key recommendations from the Vaccine Taskforce on the shelf.
The committee also heard from experts behind the Lighthouse Laboratories set up to aid diagnostics during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak, chief scientist at Health Scotland who was seconded to the Department of Health and Social Care to take on responsibilities for the Lighthouse Laboratories in 2020, said that putting the Rosalind Franklin Covid Laboratory in Leamington Spa up for sale was a missed opportunity.
Professor Chris Molloy, chief executive of Medicines Discovery Catapult, who was director of the UK Lighthouse Labs network during the pandemic, said the UK needed to keep potential lab space to fight the next war.
It comes as the UKHSA published its new Pathogen Genomics Strategy.
The five-year plan outlines how the UKHSA intends to integrate genomics into every aspect of infectious disease control.
UKHSA chief executive Dame Jenny Harries said: UK experts in the field of pathogen genomics made a vital contribution to the Covid-19 pandemic response and pathogen genomics remains central to the national and international effort to keep the public safe from many other types of infectious disease threats, from tuberculosis to mpox and avian influenza.
We know it will become even more important in the years to come, and our new strategy will ensure that UKHSA continues to be at the forefront of implementing this technology to keep our communities safe, save lives and protect livelihoods.
1+1=2. The Earth is round. We went to the moon. Vaccines work.
You can argue about anything. But what’s the value of argument when all it accomplishes is elevating nonsense while simultaneously diminishing basic truths. There’s no value in “listening to both sides” when one side (no matter how well intentioned) is just plain wrong. It’s time to call it like it is. It’s time to un-level the public health playing field.
Such is the quandary over the current battle between the forces of misinformation (mistaken beliefs), disinformation (purposeful lies) and the science of public health. “Mis/Dis” has always been a thorn in the side of agencies like the Food and Drug Administration but exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic for a variety of reasons that are not useful to discuss in detail here. Why not useful? Because repeating a falsehood to debunk it only magnifies dangerous lies.
When it comes to Mis/Dis, the public health community is in an asymmetric warfare situation. In the real world, politics, polemics, tweets and threads trump advanced educational degrees, impressive academic affiliations and peer review. Nobels ring no bells with vaccine deniers.
It’s time we recognize that the best way to battle public health Mis/Dis is to focus on a few basic, truthful, urgent and understandable messages. Here’s one: Get a flu shot.
Why not lead with the importance of getting a COVID-19 booster? Yes, that’s urgent too but, let’s be honest, flying directly into the eye of the storm, the “COVID-Din,” isn’t the best strategy. Flu shots have been around for decades and though not perfect, they have been repeatedly shown to save lives. On the other hand, debating the antivaccine juggernaut that has developed delivers more to them than to us by helping them spread their messages of Mis/Disand suffers from the Law of Diminishing Returns. Want proof? The percentage of parents getting their children the basic vaccine schedule (i.e., the MMR — Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine) is on the decline. Basic childhood vaccination rates are lower today than before the pandemic and parents requesting exemptions for their kids are up. Be afraid. Be very afraid of the consequences.
So why focus on seasonal influenza? Because getting a flu shot will save lives — lots of them and particularly among high-risk groups (for example Americans age 65 and over, those with certain chronic medical conditions and communities of color). Sound familiar? It should. The public health community (regulators, physicians, pharmacists, nurses, school administrators, etc.) say it every year. Before the pandemic no one called it “fake news” or accused us of implanting microchips in flu shots. Not everyone followed our advice, (nobody ever does) but there weren’t potent political, religious, or social media communities actively committed to “fighting the flu shot.”
But it’s more important than just protecting ourselves against the flu or about “just” saving 35,000 lives a year from this particular respiratory virus. It’s about reintroducing faith in the public health system and trust in vaccines. By actively promoting the annual flu shot, we’re focusing the message not to those most adamantly opposed to vaccines, but to the great “moveable middle.” In an asymmetric warfare situation, you want to fight where you can win.
As Sun Tsu reminds us, “Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”
We are living on borrowed time. Previous COVID-19 shots aren’t highly effective against the current variants and new, effective booster rates are low. Childhood vaccination rates, a basic pillar of our public health strategy are declining, seasonal influenza kills, and the public health community is (at least presently) out gunned in the battle for public trust. To reverse this trend, we must first acknowledge it, recognize that trust is earned and, finally, realize there are no short cuts or magic bullets.
In the war against misinformation and disinformation, the public health community must fight the battles we can win in order to convince the great American moveable middle to move (slowly at first and then more swiftly and comprehensibly) to do the right thing. America. Roll up your sleeves and get a flu shot.
Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner, is president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a visiting scholar at the New York University School of Medicine, Division of Medical Ethics.
23 January 2024
Image source, Getty Images
Babies are given whooping cough vaccine as part of their six-in-one inoculation
Whooping cough cases have risen rapidly in Wales in the first few weeks of 2024.
There have already been 135 notified cases so far in January, compared with about 200 in the whole of 2023.
Public Health Wales (PHW) expert Dr Chris Johnson said, from what GPs had been reporting, it appeared to show the start of a relatively large wave.
He has urged all pregnant women and parents of babies and young children to ensure they are vaccinated.
PHW said whooping cough has waves of increased infection every three to four years and notifications had grown sharply in the past few weeks.
Dr Johnson, a consultant epidemiologist, said: "With rates suppressed during the lockdowns of the pandemic we are naturally seeing a resurgence this year."
Of the 53 cases notified in the most recent week, 12 were in Pembrokeshire, eight in Flintshire and six in Rhondda Cynon Taf but there were cases also in 12 other council areas.
Only Blaenau Gwent,, Merthyr Tydfil and Monmouthshire have not had any cases notified in the past six weeks.
The last whooping cough peak was in the year before Covid - 2019 - and before that a big surge came in 2012, when notifications averaged 180 a week in the run-up to Christmas.
Dr Johnson, who heads PHW's vaccine preventable disease programme, added: "Whooping cough is highly contagious and is spread by breathing in small droplets in the air from other people's coughs and sneezes."
Image source, Getty Images
Whooping cough is also known as pertussis and is a lung or breathing tube infection, which is contagious.
The name comes from a "whoop" sound which some sufferers get, when they gasp for breath between coughs and coughing can last for several weeks.
People are recommended to get rest and take plenty of fluids but may be prescribed antibiotics if in the infectious early stages.
The take-up for babies has reached 95% but there has been a very gradual drop-off over the decade.
There has been a slightly more marked drop in recent years to about 70% of pregnant women being vaccinated.
"It's really important, that because we haven't seen in Wales very, very serious or fatal cases for some time, that we don't become complacent and we keep those levels of protection high," said Dr Johnson.
He added babies under six months old were at most risk.
"It can be very serious and lead to pneumonia and permanent brain damage. Young babies with whooping cough are at risk of dying from the disease."
He said vaccine protection passes on to the unborn baby and protected it until the first routine immunisation at two months old.
Seasonal viruses like flu have been stable so far this winter, although patients testing positive with flu or Covid in hospital have increased a little since the start of December.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) saw a winter peak in November among children - with cases in the community at a high intensity levels and hospital admissions peaking too. But numbers have been declining back to low levels.
The latest sample test for various viruses taken by hundreds of patients attending hospital each week showed about 8% were positive for flu and 12% had Covid.
With measles, there were nine cases in Wales in 2023, and none in the previous two years - and an outbreak in Cardiff ended in November.
PHW said although cases were low it was important children were protected from it.
"It's very easy to think of them as just like any other childhood illness," said Dr Johnson. "They aren't. Steps have been taken globally to eliminate measles, because it is such a dangerous and highly infectious disease.
"All the vaccines we offer routinely to children especially - but also those we offer to adults such as Covid and flu, they're there because these illnesses are serious, and can result in really unpleasant hospitalisation and death, but they're preventable."
First Edition newsletter
Tue 23 Jan 2024 01.35 EST
Good morning. Before a vaccine for measles was created, there were regular epidemics that caused approximately 2.6 million deaths worldwide each year. In England, the year before the vaccine was introduced in 1968, there were 460,000 cases of measles by the 1980s that number had dropped to about 10,000 suspected cases a year.
To drive home the importance of getting protected from this highly contagious infection, the government implemented a national vaccination campaign in 1994 the impact was immediately felt. There have been no measles epidemics since 1995 and in 2017, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared England measles-free. So, how, in just seven years, is measles back at the top of the health agenda?
A combination of factors means measles cases are rising rapidly in England and Wales. Figures from NHS England suggest more than 3.4 million children under the age of 16 years are unprotected against measles, mumps and rubella.
The steady decline of MMR vaccine uptake has made measles outbreaks increasingly common. Certain regions are worst affected, particularly the West Midlands, where more than 300 cases were reported between 23 October and 15 January. After these outbreaks, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) declared a national incident and warned that further outbreaks could spread across the country, even though 85% of children nationally have had their second dose of the MMR vaccine. This is because, to ensure herd immunity, 95% of the population has to be fully vaccinated.
To get a sense of why this is happening, for todays newsletter I spoke with Guardian science correspondent Nicola Davis. But first, the headlines.
Energy | More than 2 million people across the UK will be cut off from their gas and electricity this winter because they cannot afford to top up their prepayment meters, according to Citizens Advice.
Immigration and asylum | Rishi Sunaks plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda has received its first parliamentary defeat after the House of Lords voted for a motion that sought to delay ratification of the new treaty until the government can show the country is safe.
Weather | Two people have died and tens of thousands were left without power after Storm Isha wreaked havoc across the UK with gusts as high as 107mph.
Middle East | The White House has called on Israel to protect innocent people as Palestinian officials said the Israeli military had stormed al-Khair hospital in Gaza and placed another, al-Amal, under siege.
UK news | A coroner has ruled that a 13-year-old black boy, Christopher Kapessa, was deliberately pushed into a Welsh river by an older white boy as a dangerous prank. But the coroner, David Regan, said there was no evidence that the child who pushed Christopher had intended to cause his death or that there was a racist motive behind it.
Measles is a highly contagious infection. According to the NHS one person can infect nine out of 10 unvaccinated close contacts. The infection can have a number of serious complications, including pneumonia, blindness, seizures and meningitis. Babies under the age of one, young children, pregnant women and immunocompromised people are vulnerable to the more aggressive side effects.
***
When did this start?
Though the problems surrounding MMR vaccine coverage have become particularly amplified in recent months, it is not a new issue. In 1998, former physician Andrew Wakefield put forward a widely and since comprehensively debunked hypothesis linking the MMR vaccine to autism. What we saw after that was a drop in uptake because people were worried about this false link, says Nicola. It meant that quite a lot of people born in that time did not have two doses of the vaccine, leaving a lot of late teens and young adults vulnerable to measles in the late 2010s. Before the Covid pandemic hit, there were a number of outbreaks of mumps and measles in secondary schools and universities, in part because of Wakefields hypothesis.
There has also, separately, been a slow decline over the last decade in vaccine uptake, meaning that young children are now also vulnerable 60% of cases in current outbreaks are assumed to be in children under the age of 10. Any drop in uptake is a problem.
Measles is a nasty infection, so this is serious, Nicola says. About one in five kids who get the disease have been admitted to hospital for treatment. It can cause very serious infection about one in 1,000 people get inflammation of the brain and about one in 5,000 in countries like the UK can die.
***
Why are people not getting vaccinated?
Though vaccine misinformation has played a role in the decline, it is not the only factor. Most parents do get their children vaccinated, as we can see from the figures, Nicola says. Parental confidence in vaccines is high: a 2022 survey conducted by the UKHSA found that 95% of parents agree vaccines work, 91% think they are safe and 90% agree they trust vaccines so what is stopping parents from getting the jabs into their childrens arms?
The first issue Nicola pointed out was access and flexibility when it came to booking the appointment initially. She also noted that underinvestment in the NHS has meant that we dont necessarily have systems where people are being chased up, reminded and given that extra encouragement to get this done.
The irony of the measles conundrum is that the efficacy of the vaccine has meant that most people are not aware of how serious the infection can be, and therefore there is not much urgency when it comes to getting vaccinated. Most of us will never have actually seen measles and could mistakenly think that it is just a bit of a rash that clears up after a few days, not realising that this is a very serious and potentially fatal disease, Nicola says.
During the height of the pandemic, many parents were also nervous or hesitant to go into hospitals or other health settings to get children vaccinated for fear of getting infected with Covid and others simply did not know that these routine vaccinations were still happening at that point. So theres a melting pot of reasons for the decline, Nicola says.
***
Fighting the infection
The government has announced a national campaign to encourage parents of children between the ages of six and 11 to make an appointment with their GP to administer any missed MMR vaccines. The campaign will also target a million people in the West Midlands and London between the ages of 11 and 25 particularly as measles can be more serious if it is contracted in adulthood.
If the government and the NHS deal with all of the various components of this problem, they can stop the infection from becoming a full-blown health crisis. Conversely, any level of complacency will exacerbate the problem.
We have a safe and highly effective vaccine, we shouldnt have measles in the UK. So its about putting resources into getting jabs into the arms of those who are unvaccinated, Nicola says.
What does our heart rate really tell us about our health and state of being? Joel Snape talks to experts to find out. Nimo
Is this heralding a new era for India? The prime minister, Narendra Modi, has opened a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of an ancient mosque in a move that has been viewed as seeking to transform India from a secular democracy into a Hindu state. Nazia Parveen, acting deputy editor, newsletters
Matthew Cantor asks whether we are taking hypochondria seriously enough after a Swedish study found that those with long-term, serious anxiety over health die earlier than others. Nimo
In our latest instalment on Latin Americas water wars, Paloma de Dinechin meets the people of the Ixquisis valley who thought their most valuable resource would help lift their villages out of poverty. Instead, to their horror murder and violence followed. Nazia
Ill admit it: I love having a quick look into peoples windows as I stroll by, especially in fancy neighbourhoods. What can I say, Im a curious being. For the Atlantic (), Michael Waters turns the focus on to the wealthy who fling open their curtains, allowing people to gawp at their showroom-like homes. Nimo
Australian Open | So far in Tuesdays play, Coco Gauff of the US has beaten Ukraines Marta Kostyuk 7-6(6) 6(3)-7 6-2 to reach the final four of the womens singles for the first time. Earlier, Cameron Norrie finished happy with his games evolution as he narrowly lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3) against the sixth seed Alexander Zverev in the fourth round. And three games into her contest with Linda Noskova, Elina Svitolina was forced to retire with a back injury while trailing 0-3. The womens draw quickly became a free-for-all as Dayana Yastremska, a Ukrainian qualifier, picked off Victoria Azarenka, a two-time champion, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
Football | The Africa Cup of Nations hosts Ivory Coast are on the brink of a humiliating exit from their own tournament after a shock 4-0 defeat by Equatorial Guinea who were confirmed as the surprise group winners ahead of Nigeria, who beat Guinea-Bissau 1-0. Ghana are also set to miss out on the last 16 after drawing 2-2 with Mozambique, while Egypt scraped through despite being held to draw by Cape Verde in Group B.
Cricket | Virat Kohli has withdrawn from the first two of Indias five Tests against England for personal reasons, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India asking media and fans to respect his privacy and refrain from speculating about the nature of [those] reasons.
Medics urged not to report illegal abortions to police is the Guardians print lead today. The Financial Times splashes with Narrow voter ID rules expose Tories to claims of bias, elections chief warns. Breakthrough Alzheimers blood test will bring cure closer thats the Daily Express while the Daily Telegraph has Alzheimers blood test revolution for over-50s and the Times says Blood test can detect early sign of Alzheimers. Story of the moment for the Daily Mail is Starmer wades into culture wars on the side of the woke (he criticised the Tories war on the aforementioned). Weight loss horror the Daily Mirror covers the Devastating consequences of a womans botched surgery in Turkey. A counterpoised story in the Metro: Fat-busting balloon pill on NHS. UKs worst storms in a decade will become the norm warns the i.
New Hampshire primary: the last chance to stop Trump?
After the withdrawal of Ron DeSantis from the race, only Nikki Haley now stands between Donald Trump and the Republican nomination for the presidency. David Smith reports from Manchester, New Hampshire
A bit of good news to remind you that the worlds not all bad
Hurtling towards her 40s as a single mother, relying on benefits to support her three children, Zoe Smith, made the decision to quit the UK and return to Grenada, the island her paternal and maternal grandparents had left in the 1950s.
If I couldnt make it work in the UK, what chance did my children have in a country in which, on every indicator from education to employment, health to housing the odds of success as black citizens were clearly stacked against them?
Smith decided to leave the UK in the middle of the pandemic and when she finally landed after many cancelled flights she describes feeling a sense of overwhelming relief. Moving to Grenada has thrown up its challenges but her ultimate motivation is to raise her children in an environment where they could feel that freedom is their birthright.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
And finally, the Guardians puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day with plenty more on the Guardians Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
{{topLeft}}
{{bottomLeft}}
{{topRight}}
{{bottomRight}}
{{.}}
One-timeMonthlyAnnual
Other
By Emily Stearn, Health Reporter For Mailonline 15:02 24 Jan 2024, updated 17:09 24 Jan 2024
The former head of the Covid vaccine taskforce fought back tears as he accused ministers of making 'incompetent decisions' that have left the UK ill-prepared for another pandemic.
Dr Clive Dixsaid the Government 'destroyed almost everything that was going on' behind the scenes, despite lauding the scheme.
Choking back tears,Dr Dix, who replaced Kate Bingham in December 2020, stated the current complacency was 'really scary'.
The taskforcewas regarded as one of the major successes in the UK's response to the pandemic.
In a high stakes gamble, it bought millions of vaccines from pharmaceutical titans who weren't sure they worked yet. Such deals meant that Britain had access to the jabs as soon as they became available at the end of 2020.
Dr Dix, the CEO of drug discovery company, C4X Discovery, also told MPs today that manufacturers had walked away from the UK over how badly they were treated in the wake of the Covid jab rollout.
He was appearing before the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee as part of its inquiry into emerging diseases and learnings from Covid.
He said: 'The team of people, the steering group, were a group of very experienced academics, industrial people and people with good strategic vision and ability to make things happen.
'What I've seen since April 2021 is a complete demise of all the activities that made that thing work, literally gone.
'It's very sad, I actually get very passionate about it because what we have seen is a whole list of incompetent decisions being made and given the amount of effort we put in to see that just disappear.'
The Government believe 'mRNA vaccines are a golden bullet', he added.'There's a complacency there that really scares me now. Really scares me.'
After committee chair andToryMP Greg Clark claimed 'the Government correctly trumpeted the success of the vaccines', Dr Dix interjected: 'And then destroyed almost everything that was going on'.
The 250-strong taskforce was set-up in April 2020 but closed in October 2022 once the threat of the pandemic had died down.
UK Health Security Agency bosses stepped in to take control of vaccine supply.
Dame Kate who chaired the taskforce between May and December 2020 was given a damehood in recognition of the success of her program to acquire Covid vaccines, enabling the UK to become the first Western country to begin a jab programme in December 2020.
But Matt Hancock, then the health secretary, clashed with her over the rollout, including Dame Kate's refusal to back a plan to buy tens of millions of vaccines from India.
Dr Dix told MPs today: 'There was a set of very strong recommendations that myself and Kate Bingham co-authored. They didn't see the light of day.'
In leaked WhatsApp messages published by The Telegraph last March, theformer Health Secretary branded the Government's vaccine tsar Dame Kate Bingham 'totally unreliable' and 'wacky' after she said only the vulnerable needed to be vaccinated against Covid.
Dr Dix became deputy chairman of the vaccine taskforce in June 2020 and took on the role of interim chairman at the end of 2020, when Dame Kate stepped down.
Dr Dix told MPs today: 'There were activities already going on which were then just stopped and all I see now is "we've got a nice deal with Modernafor 10 years".
'That's just not good enough. That's really scary.'
In further criticism, he also argued the government's post-pandemic decision to focus on the mRNA-type Covid vaccines such as those made by Pfizer and Moderna meant the UK's current stocks 'aren't good enough'.
He said: 'It's just not good enough. The mRNA vaccines will only work if we know what the virus is and we know the antigen.
'Without that, they've got to start from scratch. They've probably got to make every antigen in the virus and see whether they do anything in humans.
'We have less resilience now because a lot of the manufacturers have walked away from the UK over how badly they were treated in the tailend of the vaccine taskforce.'
Pushed by MPs on why the Government reacted this way, Dr Dix argued there was 'no strategic leadership'.
He added: 'I'm not saying I'm the great strategic leader but the taskforce had it in it.
'The group knew what they were doing, where they were going and they put together a plan for resilience. All of that has been stopped.'
Dame Kate herself has also previously slammed the 'dumbarse' decisions that have threatened the country's ability to deal with a future virus outbreak.
During the same session, Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, who was also called to give evidence, slammed the Government for failing to learn from its Covid mistakes.
He told MPs: 'In many ways we're not in a very different position. The question really is anticipating what the next pandemic looks like.
'Of course the danger here is that we look back at the pandemic we've just had and only think about preparing for another one that is exactly the same.
'It is important to remember that, with the disease we were dealing with, we already knew a lot about coronavirus. We knew how to make vaccines for them.
'One of the problems that we have is for most of those other microbes which are out there and could threaten us, we haven't done that work.
'If it were to take 10 or 20 years to do the research and development, we are nowhere near even the beginning of that starting gun.'
Work to combat the threat of different families of viruses 'needs years of investment', he argued.
'If you think about the defense against something unknown which is clearly an important way to think about pandemics and then you think about the other types of defence we have, such as military defence, the world feels very unsafe today, he said.
'The Government has, I think, a 45billion investment per year into defence. We recognise that we need to do stuff.'
He added: 'But for pandemics we're putting a tiny fraction of that in preparedness.
'For me, we're really unsafe at this moment for future pandemic threats because we just don't have that knowledge base that you need to even start the gun as we did in 2020. Even then it took 11 months to have a vaccine.'
It comes asEngland's chief medical officer, Sir ProfessorChris Whittyalso argued in November that theGovernment would have also paid far more attention to the risks posed by Covid if it was a terrorist or geopolitical threat, rather than a natural threat.
Giving evidence to the Covid inquiry, he said there was an 'opportunity where we could probably have moved up a gear or two across Government' in early February 2020 if the system had been 'electrified' by the information it already had on Covid.
Agreeing with inquiry counsel Hugo Keith that there was a 'systemic failure', he argued that ifMI5 had warned that 100,000 people could die in a terrorist attack, the chance the system would have carried on as it did would have been 'quite small'.
'The system is surprisingly bad, in my view, at responding to threats of this kind which are not in the national security system', he said.
'Hard geopolitical threats are treated in a different way' to natural threats.'
While previous studies on the HPV vaccines effectiveness have shown positive results, this is the first trial to have a cohort that is 100 percent without cancer. Scientists part of the study also found that one or two doses confer(s) immunity against invasive cancer when administered at a young age, while older women would require three doses for full protection.
The study was conducted by Public Health Scotland, the national health agency, in collaboration with University of Strathclyde and University of Edinburgh and published in the journal JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The cancer of the cervix does not present initial symptoms until it progresses over a span of five to ten years, after which it results in symptoms such as vaginal bleeding and pelvic pain. It is diagnosed through regular cervical screening and Papanicolaou test (pap smear).
Cervical cancer can be treated just like any other cancer through radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and surgery with a nearly 50 percent five-year post-diagnosis survival rate. Like with all cancers, early detection offers longer survival.
The HPV vaccines available today are known to protect against HPV-16 and HPV-18, two of the nine types of known strains, that cause nearly all cases of cervical cancer.HPV vaccines are also thought to protect from vaginal and anal cancers, vulvar cancer, and HPV throat cancers. They also prevent warts. Some vaccines can also protect against HPV-6 and HPV-11.
Vaccination is recommended for girls aged 9 and above, and is ideally recommended before a person becomes sexually active. No link to serious adverse effects have been found to date. Since they were first recommended in 2006, HPV vaccines have been included in 125 countries vaccination programmes for young adolescents.
Apart from preventive vaccines, researches and biopharmaceutical companies are also working to produce a therapeutic vaccine for cervical cancer.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: India denies nod to 1st-ever weekly insulin for diabetics, seeks more info from maker Novo Nordisk
Floridas nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19. But less than a third of them have gotten new vaccines tailored to better combat virus variants even as deaths and infections continue to rise.
The state has the fifth-lowest percentage of nursing home residents up to date with COVID-19 shots in the U.S., according to federal data from the week ending Jan. 14.
Thats disappointing, said Jason Salemi, a University of South Florida epidemiologist. It is a simple way to improve our protection against the disease.
Only Arizona, Texas, Arkansas and South Carolina have lower rates than the Sunshine State. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists report an urgent need to improve vaccination levels in nursing homes across the country.
The health agency recommended updated versions of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines on Sept. 12. Since then, Florida nursing homes have reported at least 46 COVID-19 deaths and more than 4,200 cases among residents, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Those numbers pale in comparison to earlier surges of the pandemic. Prior vaccinations and exposures to the pathogen have blunted COVID-19s impacts, said Morgan Katz, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University.
But Floridas latest vaccine figures are concerning, she said.
The virus has more opportunities to spread and cause severe illness when fewer people get inoculated, said Katz, who has studied COVID-19 in nursing homes.
Since federal health authorities recommended the latest shots, nursing homes in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties have seen at least five COVID-19 deaths and over 700 cases among residents, according to the Times analysis.
During the week ending Jan. 7, roughly three-quarters of local facilities reported that most of their residents were behind on their vaccines.
One Clearwater nursing home, Gulfside Health and Rehabilitation Center, saw 14 cases among residents, the areas highest infection count that week, according to federal data.
The facility reported that none of its residents were up to date with COVID-19 inoculation. It didnt respond to a request for comment.
Kristen Knapp, spokesperson for the Florida Health Care Association, which represents 80% of nursing homes statewide, said her group provides facilities with educational resources stressing the importance of vaccination. The industry is working to ensure residents health and safety, Knapp said.
Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter
Well deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.
Want more of our free, weekly newslettersinyourinbox? Letsgetstarted.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which regulates long-term care centers, didnt respond to a request for comment.
Its challenging to contain virus transmission in nursing homes, with visitors entering facilities and older adults socializing and eating together, Katz said. Staff must also provide close-quarters care for prolonged periods of time.
Roughly 8% of Floridas nursing home staff were up to date with COVID-19 vaccines during the week ending Dec. 31, reflecting a national trend, according to federal data. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ended its vaccine mandate for nursing home workers last summer.
The low number of inoculations among residents and staff could be due to vaccine fatigue and a perception that COVID-19 is now a mild ailment, Katz said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee to Floridas surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, has urged providers to stop using the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, citing a debunked theory about DNA contamination. Salemi, the University of South Florida expert, said the benefits of getting vaccinated typically far outweigh the risks for nursing home residents.
Whether Floridas low standing reflects (a nursing homes) lack of diligence in providing access or a trend of residents opting not to be vaccinated is something that the state should assess, wrote AARP Florida spokesperson Rick DelaHaya in an email.
