Is there anything new about swine flu? The Department of Health update revealed an interesting finding this week. The Guardian reports; “One of the odder aspects of the latest data is that only 10% of those who sought help from a GP or the National Pandemic Flu helpline and subsequently took a swab test actually […]
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Tom Nolan on historic flu remedies
Last week we learnt who will be offered the vaccine against swine flu first. Priority groups include people in high risk groups age between 6 months and 65 years, pregnant women, household contacts of immune-compromised people, and clinical staff. […]
Syed Shah on being the first case of influenza A/H1N1 in the United Arab Emirates
I had the honor of being the first case reported officially from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was 3 am on Sunday, 17th May when I arrived at Dubai Airport, via Calgary and Heathrow, after spending a week with my family in Saskatoon, Canada. Later that day I returned to my department at the […]
Stephen Ginn on “sexting”
There was a new moral panic last week. Teenagers are “sexting” each other and, using magic new distribution channels, sometimes these images are distributed way beyond their original recipients. There’s concern that once set free, sexts are being seen by paedophiles. As the Mirror newspaper puts it: “Sex texts sent by teens found on pervert websites.” […]
Helen Macdonald on figures, jabs, scaling back, and sewage
The number of swine flu cases fell across the UK again, according to the weekly figures from the Health Protection Agency, although they caution their interpretation. Sir Liam Donaldson, England’s chief medical officer, announced plans to scale back the pandemic flu service now cases are falling. At the moment there are around 1600 call centres. He […]
Tom Nolan: Is Tamiflu useful in children or not?
Why did the operator at the National Pandemic Flu Service give the child Tamiflu? The cynics will say because the algorithm told him to, but the real answer, according to the UK government, is that it’s the safest thing to do to prevent severe infections. New research in the BMJ questions that policy and looks […]
Joe Collier on tackling breaches in the personal professional divide
How best to set the ways we communicate with each other, and so to establish our “rules of engagement”, can be difficult’. Moreover, any “rules” we establish may vary over time, either in the long term (plenty of doctors who meet in the work place later marry), or more acutely if circumstances change (one moment […]
Helen Macdonald on the calm, waves of flu, vaccines, and other stories
Calm settled over swine flu coverage this week as the northern hemisphere headed into the summer holidays; but much remains uncertain. Stories tracking the Health Protection Agency’s weekly flu figures fell from the front pages. But based on the agency’s numbers, the press report that cases, consultations, admissions and deaths from swine flu are far […]
Tom Nolan: How much flu is out there?
Measuring the tip of the iceberg The Health Protection Agency estimates that there were 110,000 new cases of swine flu in England last week,10,000 more than the week before. But how did they work this out and how accurate is it? […]
Helen Macdonald on side effects, Tamiflu, and the swine flu hotline
A hundred and five thousand people with flu symptoms were prescribed Tamiflu via the new hotline last week. But there are some unintended consequences. Although consultation rates for flu like symptoms are levelling, Pulse magazine reports on a new problem. Now patients are making appointments to see their GP complaining of the side effects of […]