COVID-19 Coronavirus and other virus UK and World News Update 27th September 2024

COVID-19 Coronavirus and other virus UK and World News Update 27th September 2024

The UK's 'cumulative mortality' continues to run at a level lower than would be expected historically. Summed up by COVID Actuary Stuart McDonald:

"Age-standardised death rates this year have tracked the best year on record (2019) very closely, except during the Covid-19 waves in June and July when death rates were a bit higher."

It's a very sad victory, but after so many people died early due to COVID, we would expect death rates to be lower than averages once stability returns. Last year it was clear that hadn't happened, this year looks more promising (unless XEC ruins it). 

It looks like XEC will be the next COVID variant to become dominant, and potentially cause a significant wave across Europe, and beyond. It may well already be having a quiet assault on the UK, as in England the numbers of hospital patients with respiratory problems who test positive (almost 12%) are creeping up towards where they were in the Summer wave (around 13%).

Hospitalisations are also up (3.71 per 100,00), almost doubling where they were in August (2.0), but not yet as high as during the worst of the Summer wave in July (4.7). 

XEC is a 'recombinant', a mix of strains KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 which likely happened inside a single person's body while they were infected with both at the same time. From the Omicron lineage and first detected in Germany just 3 weeks ago, XEC is spreading out throughout Europe, and showing an advantage to other strains. It now accounts for around 1 in 6 cases in Germany, 82 cases have been detected in the UK, and it has already been spotted in 27 countries, including the USA. 

Because XEC is a mix of 2 known strains, vaccinations and previous immunity should be as effective as before, and there are no signs that it is more severe - just easier to spread and likely to infect a lot of people. 

The UK's Autumn booster vaccination programme begins next week. If you have been invited, you can book your jab now. Eligible people include:

- adults aged 65 years and over

- residents in a care home for older adults

- individuals aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group (a much smaller group than previously, that doesn't include immunosuppressed people or their households)

- frontline NHS and social care workers, and those working in care homes for older people

“We find a very consistent story in terms of this pointing to the market as being the very likely origin of this particular pandemic.”

Professor Kristian Andersen, Scripps Institute. 

Researchers from the United States and France feel it is now "far beyond reasonable doubt" that COVID originated at the Huanan seafood market.

Thats probably as close to definite you'll ever get from a scientist. 

In a newly released paper they analysed hundreds of samples collected by Chinese authorities in 2020, including 800 collected on 1st January at the market. The researchers were able to identify areas of the market with particularly high levels of COVID, and finally we have a list of the potential animals which could have passed the infection to humans - raccoon dog, hoary bamboo rat, dog, European rabbit, Amur hedgehog, Malayan porcupine, Reeves’s muntjac, Himalayan marmot and masked palm civet. 

The scientific community have responded. All available scientific data supports the suggestion the market was 'ground zero', and genetic testing of the strains of COVID found in samples around the market matches the first known human cases. Genetic testing also shows some of the animals found were not from the areas they were supposed to be from, and some of the 'farmed' animals were actually wild. Very naughty, and as it turns out, the world may have paid a very high price for that deceit. Rules really are there for a reason...  

No more UK rail strikes - for now at least. 

Train Drivers have voted by 96% in favour of a new pay deal. They will receive around 15% over 2 years. 

Members of RMT union have voted 99% in favour of a new pay offer. Train operators will receive 4.75% for the last year and 4.5% for 2024/25, Network Rail will receive 4.5% this year. 

Doctors in training (previously Junior Doctors) have voted 2 to 1 to accept the latest pay deal. It is tricky maths, as it is involves 'pay scale uplifts' and percentage rises on top of previously promised percentage rises, but basically amounts to around 22.3% on average over the next 2 years.

A new NHS doctor in Foundation Training will see a rise from around £32,400 to £36,600, and a full-time doctor training for a specialty will see a rise from about £43,900 to £49,900.  

English Nurses who are in the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union have rejected a pay offer of 5.5%.

5.5% has already been accepted by other union members, but there was a massive turnout for this vote, and RCN members voted 2 to 1 against. They feel '10 years of neglect' can't be put right with a single pay award matching current inflation rates. 

Bad luck Mr Streeting... can't win them all first try...

Just when UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting thought it was safe to go back in the water... Pharmacists have raised their head above the parapet. 

It seems every single part of the UK health system was expected to deliver 2024 service at 2014 prices, and that wasn't going to last forever. Pharmacists say they are struggling to operate a viable business if they open for the 40 hours they are required to open, let alone paying staff and costs to open for extended hours. The Pharmacy First scheme, where people get help from their pharmacy for simple ailments, has added extra workload and prescriptions, bumping costs even more, when in reality it should mean extra earnings. Like Dentistry and GPs, the payment system was invented by some evil genius, and is not in the best interests of patients, healthcare facilities or workers, or even the taxpayer. It does need a massive overhaul. 

H5N1 Avian Influenza in US cattle, and California's bulk testing found another 7 infected herds last week.

It is still unclear how a random Missouri man with no links to livestock or wild birds caught H5N1, and even more worrying, it has been disclosed today that a total of 6 (six) healthcare workers who looked after the man became ill. Only 1 has been tested. So, okay, at the time they didn't realise he had H5N1, but really, this is incredibly remiss as regards looking after healthcare workers. They deserve better. The healthcare workers are now being tested, so hopefully we'll be told if they did manage to catch H5N1 from another human sometime very soon. If so this is massive bad news, or they could just have had nasty colds. 

Current total since April 2024 stands at 14 human cases of avian influenza A(H5) in the US. 4 were associated with sick cows, 9 poultry, and Missouri man.

Current herds infected stands at 239 herds across 14 states. 

Risk to the wider public (and wider world) is still considered LOW. 

Latest available data still shows no cases of the more dangerous and transmissible Clade 1b Mpox in the UK, however the Government are readying themselves. More than 150,000 more doses of Mpox vaccine have been ordered from supplier Bavarian Nordic.

Although Mpox Clade 1b is spreading throughout the general population in DRC, and mainly affecting children (around 70% of cases), the UK Government and NHS will continue to offer vaccinations to those previously affected by the 2022 Mpox Clade 2 outbreak - at-risk health workers and carers, and men who sleep with other men. 

Still on Mpox, last week WHO delivered 3,500 GeneXpert testing cartridges to the DRC.

"These vital supplies will enhance Mpox testing in the hardest-hit provinces and strengthen the overall response."

The UK COVID Inquiry continues. Yesterday Professor Kevin Fong gave heartbreaking testimony about his time in hospital intensive care units at the height of the second wave in late Dec 2020. If you want to be reminded just how terrifying, traumatic and soul-destroying it was watching patient after patient die, unable to help them breathe, his testimony is available online. 

Earlier we heard from Chief Nurses, who talked about the fact it was nurses who bore the brunt. Not only did they have to watch their patients die in spite of their best efforts, but they were doing it in unsuitable PPE and masks, for very long hours, avoiding their own loved ones and often terrified they themselves one day may not go home. 

Last week the UK COVID Inquiry looked at one of the biggest pieces of erroneous information from back in 2020. COVID was always airborne, but most of the major Government-advising scientists got that wrong. For several months we were all told COVID had large droplets that couldn't spread easily without coughs or sneezes, when in fact the virus droplets were so tiny they could float around the room in the air. 

One of those frustrating occasions when the evidence in front of our eyes (e.g. classrooms full of infected kids) didn't match up with what our Governments and even the World Health Organisation were saying.

Jim Reed of BBC Radio has done an excellent piece on this 'misunderstanding', which I believe may be a podcast, as well as on his blog. 

After compiling his damning report on the state of the nation's health, Lord Darzi was in The Guardian with his ideas for how to fix it, and in my view he is a sensible and very clever chap. For a long time UK Government have led as if they only have this week to think of, never in the best interests of the country long term. I'm actually quite surprised they didn't all board a shuttle for Mars because they behaved like they were off any minute...

Lord Darzi advises:

1. "...make healthy life expectancy a central focus of everything they do in government." Have aspirational long term targets, like we do with other things, such as net zero and phasing out less green cars.

2. "...make health a cross-society endeavour." For example bring businesses on board because employees off sick are costly all round. We should all be concerned about everyone having the best health we can.

3. "...use the revenue from health levies to invest in the foundations of good health."

Look after our children now, start them off well, and reap the benefits in the decades to come. He even suggests Sure Start and free school meals are proven ways to improve children's health, as well as better promotion of vaccinations and dietary health.

PA News Agency have been delving into the latest UK figures for 'economically inactive' people. These are people of working age who don't work or earn any money. It includes folk like students, early retired people, unpaid carers and those who are unable to work because of a temporary condition or illness.

In 2014 2.03 million people in the UK were 'economically inactive' due to long-term sickness. In 2019 it was 2.05 million people (possibly reflecting overall population growth). The ONS as we know have adjusted the way they count population trends, but even so, in May -July 2024 there were 2.79 million economically inactive people not working because of long-term sickness.

Long COVID is something China and a few other countries took incredible steps to minimise - mainly by preventing infections and repeat infections, at least until after vaccinations, which reduces Long COVID massively. It would be really interesting to be able to find similar stats (I tried, I failed) and see how much of a difference it has made. It won't all be about Long COVID. A lot of people decided to stop working after COVID, or chose not to go back. COVID made all of us much more aware of what is truly important in our lives. 

And on that note, we have a 16th birthday here today, so I shall leave it there and go off to eat cake and play games with balloons. I hope you are doing something nice, treat yourself - you've earnt it!! 

Play Outdoors If You Can, Catch The Last Of The Year's Sun, Save The NHS... 

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Sources: 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

CMI death rates and Image 

https://x.com/ActuaryByDay/status/1838952581994787294?t=JXnYT5GYLvf0JK9e83X7UQ&s=09

Jr Doctors Image 

https://x.com/BMA_JuniorDocs/status/1835736780366065752?t=oq5yPmABILsoCTXsaiSCvw&s=09

https://x.com/WHO/status/1839576065615782235?t=-nnobMZfdJrPciTi6I-nUw&s=09

https://x.com/WHO/status/1839560810248479020?t=OdEziqjoyt6MDgl-xlnvNA&s=19

XEC and UK data 

https://inews.co.uk/news/health/covid-hospitalisations-soar-xec-variant-waning-immunity-3296985

Week1

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/tv/new-covid-variant-xec-spreading-29936933

Week 2 tuesday 

New XEC Covid variant spreading 'more easily' as cases rise - CoventryLive

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/health/new-xec-covid-variant-spreading-29988557

Week 2 thursday

XEC Covid variant and the 'distinctive' new strain symptoms revealed - Wales Online

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/xec-covid-variant-distinctive-new-30005642

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/health/covid-xec-variant-symptoms-29997371

https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/02/whos-eligible-for-the-2024-covid-19-vaccine-or-autumn-booster/

RCN nurses refuse pay offer 

https://www.upday.com/uk/nurses-reject-governments-pay-offer-of-5-5-rise

Mpox vaccinations 

https://www.upday.com/uk/uk-stocks-mpox-jabs-as-government-prepares-for-new-strain

https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/09/16/how-are-we-tracking-mpox-in-the-uk/

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-secures-more-vaccines-to-help-boost-resilience-against-mpox

Mpox testing supplies

https://x.com/WHOAFRO/status/1837125776388272238?t=Qg4gCzwE08a5muEetKt7hg&s=09

Wuhan market 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-wuhan-origin-china-food-market-souce-b2616112.html

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/19/health/huanan-animal-market-analysis-covid-19/index.html

https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-study-on-genetic-tracing-at-the-huanan-seafood-market-to-investigate-possible-covid-virus-origins/

Train strikes over 

https://www.upday.com/uk/no-more-rail-strikes-as-workers-vote-to-accept-pay-offers

https://www.upday.com/uk/train-drivers-vote-to-accept-pay-offer-ending-two-year-dispute

Doctors in training 

https://www.upday.com/uk/junior-doctors-in-england-accept-pay-deal-after-two-year-dispute

RCN nurses refuse pay offer 

https://www.upday.com/uk/nurses-reject-governments-pay-offer-of-5-5-rise

Pharmacists 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1e8755xv01o?s=09

Covid inquiry 

https://x.com/chrischirp/status/1839257368435019881?t=85G4EEamHQib-GpHQucHSg&s=19

https://x.com/jim_reed/status/1837387859398979767?t=YC4pFPPx4hFJBkLGqYjlXw&s=09

Covid is airborne

https://x.com/jim_reed/status/1835380652226519414?t=0tjawkG50PFgweOMJ2S8EQ&s=09

Avian flu

https://x.com/HelenBranswell/status/1837158544933601345?t=3eCiMQOC_NXPZ3IcYXWxsA&s=09

https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/spotlights/h5n1-response-09272024.html

Lord Darzi

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/18/report-nhs-healthy-life-expectancy-government-policy-health-service?s=09

Long-term sickness in the UK workforce:

https://f7td5.app.goo.gl/qGo7JB

COVID-19 Coronavirus and other virus UK and World News Update 13th September 2024

COVID-19 Coronavirus and other virus UK and World News Update 13th September 2024

The UK had a fairly small but significant COVID wave over early Summer due to the arrival of the FLIRT variants. As expected it then dropped down during the last few weeks of the English school Summer holidays, but it has started to creep back up already. No rest for the wicked. 

This peak and drop was reflected in hospital admissions with COVID, which peaked in England in July at their highest level since January, but fell by 45% in August.

The latest round of the UK COVID Inquiry has begun, focussing on the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems - and the reality for all of those involved. The humans.

It will look at patients, NHS staff, and delivery of healthcare - including vaccinations, management, GPs, backlogs and Long COVID.

Chair Baroness Heather Hallett we must learn from the inquiry, otherwise the next pandemic will "bring with it immense suffering and huge financial cost, and the most vulnerable in society will suffer the most".

Proceedings began with a 20 minute "impact video" featuring patients, families, the NHS staff and other caregivers. 

Author and broadcaster Michael Rosen was shown discussing his time in intensive care.

He recalled being asked by staff to "sign a piece of paper to let us put you to sleep".

When he asked whether he would wake up, he was told he would have a "50/50" chance.

I think that probably gives us all a sharp slap of reality.

They're all people. 

Staying with the COVID Inquiry, and the fallout from it... 

"The report Behind the Masks; Corruption red flags in COVID-19 public procurement identifies 135 contracts that we believe carry a high risk of corruption. Altogether, these contracts represent a staggering £15.3 billion of public funds—nearly a third of all  pandemic procurement by value. To put this into perspective, that figure is almost equivalent to the entire annual Home Office budget."

Transparency International UK have released a report into COVID pandemic spending. 

Over the first 3 years of the pandemic the UK spent £41.8 BILLION on the response.

£4.1bn was given to suppliers with political connections to the Tory party. Many of these contracts did not go through 'due diligence' checks and and instead were fast tracked through the infamous 'VIP' and 'high priority lanes' which have since been deemed illegal.

The Department for Health wrote off £15bn on unused personal protective equipment (PPE), COVID tests and vaccines. This includes at least £1 billion worth of substandard unusable PPE.

We weren't told about at least 141 high-value contracts (worth a total of £5 billion) until a year after they were awarded – far beyond the 30-day legal requirement.

They wasted our money, and now we are in a financial hole it will take years to climb out from. 

In "more reports to tell us how messed up and underfunded the NHS has become" professor Lord Darzi has completed a report on NHS, which will be used to inform the government’s 10-year plan to reform the health service.

(Spoiler, it's pretty damning.) 

Lord Darzi is an independent peer and practising surgeon with 30 years’ experience in the NHS, so he isn't someone sitting in an office talking about something he knows nothing about. He examined over 600 pieces of analysis from DHSC, NHS England and external organisations during his investigation. 

Lord Darzi says he's shocked by what he's found out, not only the state of the NHS, but also the nation's health as a whole. 

Key points include:

- NHS and other healthcare staff are working harder than ever, but productivity is going down and patients are waiting far too long, far too often.

- Operational processes are overwhelmed. Care, nursing and clinical staff spend hours trying to find beds using out of date I.T., or discover beds and wards have been axed, leaving patients spending hours or days waiting in limbo for the care they actually need. 

"In the last 15 years, the NHS was hit by three shocks - austerity and starvation of investment, confusion caused by top-down reorganisation, and then the pandemic which came with resilience at an all-time low. Two out of three of those shocks were choices made in Westminster."

- The "top down" approach has to end, and care needs to be put back into the hands of NHS staff and patients (too many managers and not enough actual healthcare).

His 3 main recommendations for change are:

1. We need to move from analogue to digital and create a smooth, intelligent digital service...

Paperwork and computer data don't work well in unison (details of one of my failed operations still only exist on paper in a hospital storeroom, so looking at my computer files or even my paper notes suggests it never even happened). By investing in technology there are a million possibilities for spotting oddities, risks and illnesses we don't need to miss, sending out letters, appointments and requests, organising schedules and appointments, and then medical staff can get on with their real jobs.

2. We’ve got to shift more care from hospitals to communities… 

We have become too reliant on hospitals for things which should be cared for before that point. Social care, health centres and GP's are a much better place to catch ailments early when they aren't so serious or expensive to deal with, or prevent them happening at all. 

3. We’ve got to be much bolder in moving from sickness to prevention... 

We need to look long. Short term sticking plaster solutions might give great looking headlines, but don't actually help anyone. A great example is teeth. No-one can get an NHS dentist, but bad mouth health can lead to, or increase risk of, Cancers, heart disease, strokes, premature births, dementia, pneumonia, kidney disease, low self esteem and depression, and about a million other things. Prevention is always better than cure. 

Lord Darzi makes the point that just throwing money randomly won't fix this, but the NHS still has a heartbeat and can recover. 

"It took more than a decade for the NHS to fall into disrepair so it’s going to take time to fix it. But we in the NHS have turned things around before, and I’m confident we will do it again."

Teachers in Scotland have voted to accept a new pay offer of 4.27%. Teachers in England accepted 5.5% in July, they accepted 5.5% in Wales this week, and in Northern Ireland they came to an agreement in April. 

We hear lots on the news about Western countries at war, or countries with which our Governments have close arrangements, but less about poorer nations. Civil war broke out in Sudan on 15th April 2023, when Government, military and paramilitary forces began fighting. 

"Currently, 3.6 million children in Sudan are acutely malnourished, with 730,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

The ongoing conflict has exacerbated food insecurity, making it increasingly difficult to deliver essential nutrition and health services to vulnerable populations."

World Health Organisation (WHO)

In light of the Mpox outbreak in DRC and beyond, today the World Health Organisation announced they've established an access and allocation mechanism for over 3.6 million pledged Mpox vaccines, plus treatments and testing. They believe if the correct people are targetted, this outbreak can still be contained and halted before it spreads worldwide or kills many more people.

It is incredibly hard to get any sort of clear figures regarding Mpox, as many of the patients and medical staff involved do not have access even to basic testing. All they can really do is count all known or suspected Mpox cases, including more severe Clade 1 and endemic Clade 2. All evidence suggests the mutated (easier to pass human to human) Clade 1b variant is responsible the current outbreak. 

Moderna are currently working on an mRNA Mpox vaccine. First round lab-based trials have been successful and a phase 1 and 2 human trial is now underway. 

The HPAI H5N1 (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) outbreak in US dairy herds continues, and you may have seen in the news that a human patient in Missouri has been diagnosed with H5N1, but has "no immediate known animal exposure" - no contact with dairy herds, poultry or wild birds. They are the 14th human to be infected with H5 variant bird flu virus in the US this year. So far we still have no indication there is human to human transmission, but obviously that is what all the scientists are watching for. This patient could simply be a random one-off, the needle in the haystack. 

The current total infected dairy herds stands at 203 across 14 states. 

California is still the only state which appears to be taking a proactive approach. They are bulk testing tanks of milk, and revisiting infected herds to look at whether any of the herd were sold to different farms prior to positive tests, and whst equipment or staff moved between infected and other farms. They are actively looking for H5N1 in order to stop the virus spreading. It means their stats don't look great right now, with 8 infected herds reported in the last 2 weeks, but ultimately it has to be the sensible thing to do.

Remember kids, if you don't test, you are only pretending you don't have cases

"The polio vaccination campaign in south Gaza has concluded with over 446,000 children being vaccinated since the start of the campaign on 1st September.

Five health facilities will continue offering polio vaccination to make sure no child is missed. 

We are grateful to the families for their cooperation, and to all vaccinators and health workers for their dedication. 

Continuation of humanitarian pauses is key to complete the campaign successfully across the Gaza Strip. The preparation for the start of the vaccination campaign in northern Gaza are ongoing.

The children in Gaza deserve lasting peace, not just polio vaccines."

Dr Tedros, WHO.

After a child became severely ill and Polio was discovered in a water source, they moved quickly. WHO vaccinated 446,000 children in under 10 days. 44,600 each day. That is staggering, well done to whoever organised that. 

The UK NHS has rolled out their new RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) jab. RSV causes breathing problems and hospitalises 20,000 of our most vulnerable people each year. Pregnant women and older adults aged 75 to 79 will be offered the jab along with your flu jab.

On 10th September it was World Suicide Prevention Day. This is a subject which is very important to me and my family, so some of the images included reflect that. Every person is important, including you. The world is better with you in it. 

It is the weekend - hurrah! It's just over 2 weeks since I fell down the loft stairs and I still cannot sit straight due to my swollen and bruised derriere - so let that be a warning to you. Thankfully I can sit in the car without a pillow now, and I no longer look like I'm attempting to smuggle a couple of beach balls, so normality is returning. I think I've earned a treat, and I think you have too - don't forget to spoil yourself. I've got some luscious deep conditioner to put on my hair tomorrow evening, and I'm going to light a fire and watch movies in my pyjamas. We moved house 5 weeks ago and have hardly had a moment off since, so it'll be a welcome break. A treat doesn't have to be expensive or complicated, sometimes it just has to be what you really need. 

Have a good weekend, I'll be back in a couple of weeks...

Be Careful On Stairs. Start Preparing Your Home For Winter. Save The NHS.  

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Sources: 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Images

Rsv image

https://x.com/UKHSA/status/1830628776289481197?t=oZQn9yJoaU0TPoNnTk565Q&s=09

World Suicide Prevention Day Images

https://x.com/MindCharity/status/1833369815224094943?t=vA4UzKl5EWsB67eDi8-4nQ&s=09

https://x.com/mentalhealth/status/1833445261823156669?t=vA4UzKl5EWsB67eDi8-4nQ&s=19

https://x.com/chris_davison1/status/1833462839144570908?t=BxsGlb9UWkDXWMMkZrQ16A&s=19

It can't be the best of times forever, nor can it be the worst of times forever.

You WILL be missed.

Needing help doesn't make you unusual, and it definitely doesn't make you a burden.

We can spend infintely longer worrying about something than we can spend doing it.

No-one can cope with everything at once. Nibble at it in bitesize pieces.

You are enough.

The world is better with you in it.

I can give you a million reasons to stay, but you have to be able to see they are true. 

Hospital admissions and cases

https://x.com/chrischirp/status/1834288960459166114?t=PRsujm9zcWRTdnsK5YcdSg&s=19

https://x.com/ActuaryByDay/status/1834152226069099003?t=ZXzVvSwN3S8jTRZGZPF4kw&s=09

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/

Covid inquiry 

Covid inquiry: Author Michael Rosen

https://x.com/MichaelRosenYes/status/1833082766172315720?t=BTG9vI57bhNYMASn1AEncQ&s=09

https://www.upday.com/uk/covid-inquiry-michael-rosen-says-he-was-given-50-50-chance-of-survival-in-intensive-care

https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/modules/impact-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-healthcare-systems-in-the-4-nations-of-the-uk/

https://www.upday.com/uk/uk-covid-19-inquiry-to-examine-impact-of-pandemic-on-healthcare

https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/documents/transcript-of-module-3-public-hearing-on-09-september-2024/

https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/coronavirus/covid-inquiry-turns-focus-to-impact-on-nurses-and-healthcare-10-09-2024/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm2n3vp24jet?page=3

Campaigners highlight corruption concerns over Covid contracts

https://www.transparency.org.uk/new-research-raises-corruption-questions-over-billions-covid-public-spending

https://www.upday.com/uk/campaigners-highlight-corruption-concerns-over-covid-contracts-as-inquiry-returns

Lord Darzi NHS report

https://x.com/BBCHughPym/status/1834107850739581209?t=Gl0uWP6M6okQfkcZi11Nwg&s=09

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-major-surgery-not-sticking-plaster-solutions-needed-to-rebuild-nhs

Oral health

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/dental/art-20047475

Teachers

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/teachers-cabinet-secretary-scottish-government-cpi-rpi-b2611088.html

https://www.upday.com/uk/teachers-vote-to-accept-improved-pay-offer

Sudan

https://x.com/WHO/status/1833179958610370772?t=8YKCqOoptLfBb0D854rSDg&s=09

Mpox

https://x.com/HelenBranswell/status/1831348249950564848?t=HlyhNayCu6NzGjmQ1lPSZA&s=09

https://www.statnews.com/2024/09/04/moderna-mpox-vaccine-study-results/

https://www.who.int/news/item/13-09-2024-who-and-partners-establish-an-access-and-allocation-mechanism-for-mpox-vaccines--treatments--tests

https://worldhealthorg.shinyapps.io/mpx_global/

Bird flu pandemic warning amid case with no animal exposure

H5N1

https://www.gbnews.com/health/bird-flu-symptoms-cases-pandemic

And thursday Helen Branswell's opinion 

https://x.com/HelenBranswell/status/1834276697790673233?t=MHY9UJlIzcHdB2GmAUogHg&s=19

https://www.statnews.com/2024/09/12/h5-bird-flu-human-infection-missouri-cause-remains-unknown/

Bird flu latest:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/hpai-confirmed-cases-livestock

https://x.com/HelenBranswell/status/1834293820441133149?t=ntoKnCPjiiMkS1w2nqSl7Q&s=09

Polio vaccination, Gaza 

https://x.com/DrTedros/status/1833139192479494319?t=0YAY5KiBNZaF_HT9NlNekw&s=09

https://x.com/DrTedros/status/1831251117935595998?t=_4P1Y26ixscOVL7DQSH2Ng&s=09

now add measles 

https://www.statnews.com/2024/09/06/gaza-polio-measles-vaccine-drive-who-unicef/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c75nekwkd4yt

RSV

https://www.upday.com/uk/nhs-rolls-out-new-jab-for-respiratory-virus#google_vignette