Our daily health news service is taking an extended break

Due to changes in staffing we are having to pause our daily health news for the moment as there isn't capacity in the library team at present to continue with such a time-intensive service.

Our news service may return later in the year, but we can't guarantee that at present.

We will still be active on X (Twitter) so you can always follow us there for news updates.

We will still be posting things on the Library Blog, if you want to keep up with what is happening in the service.

We really hope you have found this service useful.

More free courses to help with recovery journeys

More free courses to help with recovery journeys There’s a chance join free courses this autumn offering help for those with health conditions to take positive steps on their recovery journey.

More than 30 educational courses are available with the launch of Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Recovery College’s new prospectus for the 2023 autumn term. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Flu and COVID-19 surveillance report published

Flu and COVID-19 surveillance report published This fortnightly flu and COVID-19 report brings together the latest surveillance data along with the latest public health advice.

COVID-19 case rates continued to increase this week compared to our previous report. A total 9.7% of 4,288 respiratory specimens reported through the Respiratory DataMart System were identified as COVID-19. This is compared to 7.1% of 4,303 from the previous report.

The overall COVID-19 hospital admission rate for week 34 was 3.37 per 100,000 population, an increase from 3.00 per 100,000 in the previous report.

Intensive care units (ICU) admission rates have increased to 0.11 per 100,000 compared to 0.08 per 100,000 in the previous report.

Hospital admission rates have increased in most age groups. UK Health Security Agency

See also: 

• Research and analysis: COVID-19 therapeutic agents: technical briefings UK Health Security Agency
• Covid: New BA.2.86 variant found in Scotland BBC News
• Boots 'runs out of Covid tests' as 'concerned' health bosses plan to bring back community testing and pull forward booster rollout amid fears Pirola variant - which causes dry cough, a runny nose and fatigue - will 'overwhelm NHS' The Daily Mail
• Biggest surge in Covid deaths this year: Number dying due to virus jumps 57% in a week - with experts already calling call for return of masks The Daily Mail
• Covid-19 hospital admissions in England at three-month high The Independent
• Covid Eris symptoms: All we know about new variant driving surge in cases The Independent
• COVID-19 hospital admissions in England reach three-month high Sky News

Inequalities in mortality involving common physical health conditions, England: 21 March 2021 to 31 January 2023

Inequalities in mortality involving common physical health conditions, England: 21 March 2021 to 31 January 2023 Rates of mortality involving cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, dementia, diabetes, and respiratory diseases, by Census 2021 variables.

ASMRs for all-cause mortality and most individual conditions were generally highest in the most deprived areas and among people who were long-term unemployed or had never worked; the largest differences by deprivation were observed for mortality involving chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, followed by lung cancer and asthma. Office for National Statistics

See also:

• The King's Fund responds to the latest ONS data on ethnic and socio-demographic inequalities in mortality rates for common physical health conditions The King's Fund

Reform law and expand treatment options to tackle cost of drugs on society

Reform law and expand treatment options to tackle cost of drugs on society Drug laws are outdated and in need of reform, the Home Affairs Committee has found. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and Misuse of Drugs regulations need to be updated to support greater use of public health based drug interventions, while also ensuring an appropriate criminal justice response to illicit drugs including national standards for diversion schemes for low level offending. 

In a report published today, the Committee calls for a new legislative and funding framework that enables practical, risk-reducing interventions such as establishing a pilot drug consumption facility and drug testing at festivals.

See also:

• Allow drug testing at festivals to cut deaths, MPs urge ministers The Guardian

Junior doctors and consultants to strike together in England

Junior doctors and consultants to strike together in England Junior doctors and consultants in England are to coincide strikes during the autumn in an escalation of the pay row with the government.

It will be the first time in this dispute they have walked out together and comes after junior doctors voted in favour of continuing with strikes.

In the British Medical Association (BMA) ballot, 98% voted in favour which gave the union a new six-month mandate.

Ministers called the co-ordination of strikes "callous and calculated". BBC News

See also:

• Doctors in England announce four days of joint strikes this autumn as juniors vote for six more months of industrial action BMA
• Joint junior doctor and consultant strikes the nightmare scenario NHS leaders have long feared NHS Confederation
• Joint industrial action announced by the BMA NHS Employers
• Almost 3,000 London NHS workers set to strike BBC News
• Junior doctors and consultants in England to strike together for first time in NHS history Channel 4 News
• More NHS strike misery on the way: Both junior doctors and consultants will hold four days of united industrial action from September The Daily Mail
• Junior and senior doctors in England to strike together for first time in NHS history The Guardian
• Junior doctors and consultants to strike together for first time in NHS history The Independent
• Junior doctors and consultants to go on first ever joint-strike ITV News
• Junior doctors and consultants to go on joint strike for first time in NHS history Sky News

Brain fog after Covid linked to blood clots - study

Brain fog after Covid linked to blood clots - study Blood clots in the brain or the lungs might explain some common symptoms of "long Covid", including brain fog and fatigue, a UK study suggests.

In the study, of 1,837 people admitted to hospital because of Covid, researchers say two blood proteins point to clots being one cause.

It is thought 16% of such patients have trouble thinking, concentrating or remembering for at least six months.

Long Covid can also develop after milder infections. BBC News

See also:

• Acute blood biomarker profiles predict cognitive deficits 6 and 12 months after COVID-19 hospitalization (open access) Nature Medicine
• The Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study PHOSP-COVID
• Scientists reveal why Covid-19 causes ‘brain fog’ and memory problems Evening Standard
• UK scientists find link between proteins related to blood clots and long Covid The Guardian

Nitrous oxide: Laughing gas ban could harm users, experts warn

Nitrous oxide: Laughing gas ban could harm users, experts warn The proposed ban of nitrous oxide could stop users seeking medical help in hospitals, health experts have warned.

In a letter to the government, seen by BBC Newsnight, 15 neurologists and related health experts say possession of the drug should not be criminalised.

Despite rising numbers of hospital patients suffering the effects of so-called laughing gas, they warn the ban could worsen the stigma around users.

The government has responded, saying it plans to go ahead with the ban. BBC News

Mental health patients waited last year in A&E for ‘over 5.4m hours’

Mental health patients waited last year in A&E for ‘over 5.4m hours’ Patients across England waited for a total of more than 5.4 million hours in A&E while experiencing a mental health crisis last year, Labour has said.

According to the party, figures obtained through freedom of information requests show that last year one patient at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust waited in A&E for 860 hours, the equivalent of 36 days, while suffering a mental health crisis. The Independent

NHS managers who let surgeon work after serious complaints called to resign

NHS managers who let surgeon work after serious complaints called to resign Health board management who let a neurosurgeon continue operating on patients despite knowing of serious complaints against him are facing calls to resign.

A damning internal report published on Thursday found that NHS Tayside failed to put in place adequate monitoring of Prof Sam Eljamel, despite a rising number of complaints. The Guardian

See also:

• NHS failed to act on brain surgeon who harmed patients BBC News

Thousands of people may have unknowingly contracted hepatitis C abroad, health experts warn

Thousands of people may have unknowingly contracted hepatitis C abroad, health experts warn People are being urged to take a free hepatitis C test amid fears thousands may have unknowingly contracted the disease abroad.

While NHS bosses hope it will be wiped out in England by 2025, some 70,000 adults may still have the disease without realising, according to healthcare company Preventx.

The blood-borne virus can be picked up through dental, cosmetic, or health procedures, or via tattoos and piercings, it added. Sky News

More than 1 million lives saved in the UK over past four decades due to advances in cancer care

More than 1 million lives saved in the UK over past four decades due to advances in cancer care More than a million lives have been saved over the past four decades thanks to cancer advances, analysis shows.

UK cancer death rates have fallen by about a quarter since the mid 1980s, in a ‘golden era’ of improved diagnosis and treatment.

The rise in screening programmes and a drastic fall in smoking have combined to stop a further 1.2 million lives being lost, according to Cancer Research UK. The Daily Mail

See also:

• One million lives saved: How our research milestones mean more moments for people with cancer Cancer Research UK

Fifth of people have gene that protects against Alzheimer's and could one day lead to vaccine, study says

Fifth of people have gene that protects against Alzheimer's and could one day lead to vaccine, study says One in five people carry a genetic variant that appears to protect against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, a study suggests.

Analysis of medical and genetic data from hundreds of thousands of people found that having this variant, called DR4, reduced people’s chances of developing either condition by more than 10 per cent on average.

Experts say the discovery may one day lead to a vaccine that could slow or stall the progression of these two common conditions. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes (open access) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences