COVID-19, H5N1 Avian Flu, Measles and other virus UK and World News Update 8th August 2025
The British Medical Association (BMA) and Department of Health are set to start detailed talks on pay issues and working conditions for Resident Doctors.
Wes Streeting has repeatedly said there is no more money, however making changes to working conditions could go a long way towards making folk a bit happier.
UK Nurses unions are also threatening strike action, after members of the Royal College of Nursing voted overwhelmingly to reject a 3.6% pay offer.
In the UK the latest COVID figures suggest we may have escaped the expected Summer COVID wave. Still steady up until 30th July, if anything cases are dropping, although as we've seen before, people don't seem to want to test positive during the holiday season. Hospitalisations remain steady at just over 100 a week.
In the US their rising Summer COVID wave is continuing, with cases up 4 weeks in a row. Hospital admissions were up 5% last week and 13% this week. Levels are creeping upwards, but still no massive wave Asia as experienced when the latest variants arrived there.
The big news in the USA this week is that RFK Jr, who we know does not entirely believe vaccinations work, especially does not like these new-fangled mRNA vaccines. He says:
"We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted. BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate."
Believe me, it's very hard to answer this without expressing emotion.
The experts I'm seeing are all defeated at this decision. Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, said it was 'one of the worst decisions he's seen in 50 years of public health preparedness work'.
RFK Jr says mRNA vaccines are ineffective against upper respiratory infections. Does he mean it doesn't prevent you catching them? Masks help prevent you catching them, a vaccine can't decide what you breathe in. The science I have shared with you for the past 5 years all says mRNA is incredibly effective at protecting against severe illness and death from upper respiratory infections, including COVID and flu. The science also shows vaccinated people shed less virus (sometimes none) and infect far fewer other people.
RFK Jr says that because mRNA vaccines only recognise a small piece of virus, mutations can easily render them ineffective. It's simply not true. MRNA recognises a part of the virus, a protein which causes an immune response in the body. Each mutation only changes a little part of that protein, and as Dr Angela Rasmussen explains in a great article on Substack, even 100 mutations aren't going to change it enough it becomes unrecognisable. It's like recognising a knife as a knife, whether it's a pocket knife, kitchen knife, machete, sabre etc. Only when it mutates to become a pair of scissors or a poker does it become harder to spot and you might consider an updated vaccine.
RFK Jr says that because mRNA vaccines only recognise a small piece of virus, they encourage mutations to develop, and vaccinating during a pandemic makes the pandemic last longer. How so? Mutations, as we all know by now, occur inside human bodies as the virus replicates and makes 'mistakes'. The longer the disease has before your body kills it completely, the more mutations can occur. The more people infected, the more chance of mutations. Vaccinating reduces the length of time people are ill, kick starts the immunity to fight, and helps prevent you shedding virus and infecting other people - all of this reduces the chance of mutations.
The science (and there is absolutely tons of it) says mRNA is effective and far safer than catching COVID. It is also incredibly quick to manufacture - something invaluable during a pandemic. The alternative was watching far more people die in the first waves and far more people develop Long COVID.
Don't forget that prior to this announcement, all 17 members of the US vaccine committee were removed by RFK Jr, who installed 7 of his own associates instead. He has no medical or scientific qualifications. He is anti-vaccine. This is the decision of 1 man.
mRNA technology has some incredibly promising early results for vaccinations and treatments against various cancers, bugs like Norovirus and diseases like Zika and HIV. US researchers were very successfully trialling mRNA vaccines for H5N1 Avian Flu. This loss of funding and US Government support will have a massive knock-on effect.
Two new Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccination programmes were introduced to the UK NHS Vaccination Schedule last September; an older adults programme & a maternal programme.
The vaccine prevented 82% of hospitalisations in older adults.
The vaccine in pregnancy prevented 72% of hospitalisations in newborn infants.
Nice.
Talking of RSV... A study has been published which assessed the risk of children under 5 contracting RSV after COVID infection. Contrary to what they had expected, children were considerably less likely to be diagnosed with RSV in the 6 months following a COVID infection than they were if they'd had flu or any other respiratory disease.
Some good news, although my first thought reading this was all of the scientists who are asking us to stop thinking of COVID as a respiratory infection...
The UK has seen an increase of 26% in cases of STEC (Shiga toxin-producing Esherichia coli = commonly called E-coli) from 2023-24. This is a bacteria found in animal poo, which can be spread via dirt or contaminated food. It can cause diarrhoea, bloody stools and stomach cramps. In the UK children aged 1 to 4 years have been most heavily affected.
Make sure everyone, including young children, washes their hands with soap and warm water before eating, and after petting animals. Clean pram wheels and shoes after farm visits or countryside walks.
If you are affected, wipe down kitchen and bathroom surfaces with bleach-based products and do not prepare food for others until 48 hours after symptoms stop.
If someone has diarrhoea and it is severe or bloody, they are under 12 months, dehydrated or it lasts longer than 2 days, seek medical advice.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is reminding people of the steps they can take to protect themselves against tick bites this summer, as the latest annual data shows that there were 1,581 laboratory confirmed cases of Lyme disease reported in 2024 in England alone. That is probably an underestimate, as sometimes people do not realise they have Lyme disease.
Not all ticks are infected, and if they are, they need to attach to you and feed for some time before they pass on Lyme disease. This makes it very important that you remove any ticks quickly - ensuring you remove them entirely.
Lyme disease creates a bullseye rash around the bite site, up to a month after being bitten. It can become severe, with other symptoms including fever, headache, fatigue, a facial droop, nerve pains and numbness or tingling in the hands or feet.
UK NHS Resident Doctor's pay is a problem which is leading them to strike, but it gets worse. A survey by the British Medical Association (BMA) has found that half of the Resident Doctors completing their foundation training this month don't even have a job to go to.
After completing their medical degree Resident Doctors undertake 2 years of foundation training before they're qualified, and then they can go off to train for around 6 years in specialisms or to become a GP - and despite Government promises to increase it, only 10,000 of these positions are available from the NHS each year. This year 30,000 Resident Doctors applied for those places.
Now I know this affects a lot of my readers. Please do not panic. Research using mice and published this week by University Of Colorado Cancer Centre has shown that the viral respiratory infections such as COVID and flu can 'reawaken' dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs.
Whenever we learn something new, it is always a good thing, even if it seems scary. This does not change the facts as they are, and we already know that some people given the all-clear will go on to redevelop cancer, including metastatic cancers (forming elsewhere in the body). What this does is give us insight into what can trigger that.
The dormant cells were reawakened by an immune molecule called interleukin-6 (IL-6), and the researchers confirmed this by genetically engineering mice who didn't have it. Around 2 weeks later the cells became dormant again, so the reaction didn't actually necessarily cause cancer, but it made it more likely as a future threat. Other parts of the immune system were also at play, including confused T cells, which protected the cancer cells, and other things which are waaay beyond my own skillset and understanding.
The study was done because previous studies in humans have shown inflammation (such as that caused by a virus or infection) can reawaken cancer cells, and in the first months of the pandemic there was a marked increase in cancer survivors dying from cancer.
To compare their mice results to humans, the researchers used the UK Biobank to find people with a diagnosis of breast cancer up to the end of 2014, a PCR COVID test before the end of December 2020 (before vaccinations), and followed them up for 2 years. They found death from cancer was raised for the people who had tested positive for COVID, especially in the first year when it was almost twice as likely as people who tested negative. Please remember twice as likely is still a very low figure.
This is a huge discovery, and without COVID we may never have been sure that flu can have the same effect, and probably so can other respiratory infections. It gives a starting point for standards of care, research and treatments, and reducing that risk.
It looks like RFK Jr may be about to dismantle the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). This is a highly skilled body of people who study evidence on preventative medicine and decide whether or not the science shows it is worthwhile. Any of their Level A or B recommendations are then covered by US medical insurance. Things they recommend include mammograms for women over 40, STD testing and folic acid for pregnant people, children's eye tests, statins for high cholesterol etc etc. It’s hard to see why anyone would dismantle this group unless you were going to make cuts to recommendations.
The US CDC finally has a head, and somewhat confusingly, she was confirmed by the Senate. Susan Monarez is the first CDC Director without a medical degree, and the first to be confirmed by the Senate under a new law passed in 2023. Previously acting Director until Trump nominated her and she had to step down, Ms Monarez is a microbiologist, immunologist and long serving civil servant, and she's very good at using her words. When asked about vaccinations and changes to the advisory panel, she said: "Vaccines absolutely save lives, and if I'm confirmed as CDC director, I will commit to making sure that we continue to prioritize vaccine availability." That doesn’t give much away.
She seems like she should be a sensible choice, but whoever takes this job will have to tread a fine line between 'keeping on the bosses' good side' and science and evidence.
Measles is still doing it's thing.
The US has a steady rise in cases, with the total at 1,356 confirmed cases as of 5th August across 41 states. There have been 32 outbreaks (3 or more linked cases), which is double the total for 2024.
In the UK it is no better, in fact, per head it's worse. Sadly they only update monthly, so latest figures are to 21st July, at 674 confirmed cases in England - which is looking far better than last year at least (2,911 for the whole year). Still time yet though, we had an additional 96 cases in the 4 weeks up to 21st July.
Measles in Mexico is still horrific. They have sadly announced the death of a 12th person and a total of 3,730 confirmed cases to 25th July. The number of presumed cases doubles that figure.
In Canada another 196 cases reported in the week ending 26th July brings the total for 2025 to an astronomical 4,394 measles cases (4,067 confirmed, 327 probable).
Mongolia is also struggling with a measles outbreak. On 29th July they reported the deaths of the 9th and 10th people, with 109 patients still in hospital, including 6 children in a serious condition. They are urging parents to take their children for vaccination.
A new study from Stanford University has re-estimated the number of lives and life years which have been saved by COVID vaccinations. It is getting some media coverage, but it is not getting a good peer-review. Main complaints are that it doesn't check any data, it just pulls figures from a select group of other studies, and the figures don't match up with the actual excess deaths which occurred, nor does it match up with deaths which occurred from COVID.
The study covers the period from the onset of the vaccination campaigns until 1st October 2024, and they guesstimate the differences in COVID variants (pre-Omicron and Omicron), and look at whether people had a COVID infection before any vaccinations. Truth is there are difficulties in estimating severity of different COVID variants, and we can't go back to the beginning when no-one had any immunity and try it with Omicron to see if it would have been less deadly. We can't assume that people without a positive test hadn't had COVID, potential for exposure across the world varied, and vaccinations were given in different numbers and at different times - e.g. one country was on boosters while another was still on first doses.
The results were very low:
"...more than 2.5 million deaths were averted (1 death averted per 5400 vaccine doses administered)."
- 82% were among people vaccinated before any infection
- 57% were during the Omicron period
- 90% pertained to people 60 years or older.
The 2.5 million estimate is within a huge 'sensitivity range' (a range which is most likely) of 1.4m to 4m lives saved, and researchers themselves note that if they allowed for other potential variations, that range would be substantially bigger. I honestly don't know why they've put their name to something so wishy washy and open to criticism.
Previous studies have estimated many more millions of lives saved. For example an Australian study in September 2022 used all-cause mortality and reported COVID deaths, estimating 14.4 million lives had been saved in the first year of vaccinations. When they used excess mortality to estimate, that rose to 19.8 million lives saved by vaccinations worldwide.
Sadly there have been several recent H5N1 Avian Flu detections in poultry in England. It was confirmed in Bishop Auckland, County Durham on 25th July, and at a premises near Minehead in Somerset on 28th July. On 31st July Yeovil, Somerset, and on 6th August in Breckland, Norfolk.
There has also been a confirmed case at a premises near Banff, Aberdeenshire in Scotland.
The ban on taking poultry to fairs and farm shows is harsh on potential competitors, but seems it is incredibly wise.
Surveillance on California dairy farms has unsurprisingly revealed multiple sources of H5N1 transmission. Researchers performed extensive air, farm wastewater, and milk sampling on 14 H5N1 positive dairy farms across two different California regions. Virus was detected in the air in milking parlors and from exhaled breath of cows. Infectious H5N1 virus was detected in the air and water streams, including wastewater which gathers in 'lagoons' for reuse for washing down etc, and where wild birds drink.
Analysis of milk from the individual udders of cows revealed a high number of asymptomatic H5N1 positive cows and a diverse distribution of infected udders, which means infected milking machinery wasn't simply passing H5N1 on from 1 cow to the next.
It's not given anyone any simple fixes unfortunately...
Just 4 newly confirmed US dairy herds infected in the the last 30 days, for a total of 1,078.
In the last 2 weeks Cambodia has reported another 2 patients with the older clade of H5N1 Avian Flu, bringing the total for the year to 15, with 5 fatalities. Both patients had contact with, and ate, birds which had become sick and died.
Although health authorities are attempting to get the message across just how dangerous it is to handle or eat contaminated birds, a single chicken is a big deal to a family with limited food and income, and something they really struggle to see go 'to waste'.
If you weren't already aware that drinking raw milk isn't a great idea, there's been an outbreak of E. coli and Campylobacter in Florida, which has been traced back to unpasteurised milk from a single farm.
At least 21 people are sick (6 are under age 10) and 7 hospitalised, 2 of which are severely ill.
Not a virus, but there's an excellent article in a publication called 'Counterpunch' about the increase in Legionnaires Disease.
This is caused by a bacteria which grows in stagnant water, and it was unheard of before it sickened 300 American Legion veterans attending a Bicentennial Celebration in 1976. It often causes pneumonia and up to 1 in 10 patients can die.
The article examines possible reasons for a recent surge in outbreaks, including decaying infrastructure that needs to be ripped out and renewed, the return to 'normality' after COVID shutdowns left everything sitting for weeks or months, and energy efficient options taking longer to heat water and/or leaving it sitting for sometimes days at a time (e.g. rainwater storage).
And right on cue... New York City has an outbreak of Legionnaires Disease. As of yesterday 58 people have been confirmed ill, and 2 have died. The outbreak is suspected to have been spread by cooling towers on buildings in Central Harlem. When tested, 11 cooling towers had an initial positive result, and remedial work has already been completed to make them safe.
Also not a virus, several countries are reporting a major increase in cases of colorectal cancer in younger people. According to figures published this week from the American Cancer Society, diagnoses in Americans under 55 have nearly doubled compared to 10 years ago. The rise is in large part because the recommended screening age has been lowered, so cases are being caught earlier, but it seems unlikely that explains everything. Unfortunately only time can really give us a clear answer - we need to see if diagnoses in older people reduce by a similar figure over the next few years.
Now, having a good diet is a great thing, and for sure it can help you feel better and be more healthy, but it CANNOT heal all ills.
RFK Jr on Thursday strongly suggested changing your diet can cure mental illness, including illness causing violent behaviour and schizophrenia.
Yeah, best of luck with that one. Actual medically trained doctors are spitting feathers over this, and warning it's incredibly dangerous.
If you have been diagnosed with a mental illness and prescribed medication from a medical professional, please never stop taking it without advice from a medical professional. Do NOT change or stop your medication on the advice of a man who has a degree in American History and Literature. Change your diet, eat healthily, cut out highly processed foods and food colourings if that floats your boat. It will no doubt be really good for you, and it may even alleviate your symptoms, but it is NOT a magic cure. Do NOT stop taking the tablets unless an actual doctor says it's a good idea. Please.
The UK Government is again testing the emergency alert system - at 3pm on 7th September.
Around 87 million mobile phones and tablets that can receive calls and messages will sound an alarm. For most of us it'll be a moment of interest in the day, but for anyone with a secret phone - and that includes a lot of people at risk of violence - you may want to Google how to turn it off. It can also be useful to turn it off for people who won't understand, or don't need independent notification about an emergency, such as some people with dementia or learning disabilities, or living in a care home for older adults.
It went off for us when we had Storm Eowyn, telling us to remain indoors - and then we had no electricity for the best part of 5 days, and roads all around us were blocked by fallen trees and power lines. 3 people died, but had the storm not been taken so seriously, that figure would undoubtedly have been a lot higher.
"After over 2 years of conflict, Sudan is facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, marked by disease, hunger, displacement & despair.
Cholera has spread to all Sudan’s 18 states with more than 96 000 cases reported since Aug 2024. Measles & malaria also continue to spread."
WHO
WHO and partners had a massive vaccination campaign in Sudan over 10 days during July, delivering polio oral vaccines to 4.2 million people, mostly children.
On 29th July the IPC confirmed famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City. As of 30 July 2025, over 62,700 people (60,785 Palestinians and 1,983 Israelis) have been reported killed in the Gaza war according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as 217 journalists and media workers, 120 academics and more than 224 humanitarian aid workers.
These official figures do not include anyone who died from natural causes. They do not include bodies yet to be discovered or recovered, or anyone who has died as a result of the side effects of war - starvation, disease, being unable to receive medical treatment, birth complications and others.
On the 5th August the UNRWA clinic in Gaza City was destroyed. Nasser Medical Complex is the only functioning hospital left in Gaza.
It is the weekend - huzzah! It is still the holiday season and a lot of people are away. The UK is expected to have some very warm weather next week (warm for us anyway), so please look out for those who might need it. Don't forget to treat yourself to something nice. We've a barbeque planned, because tomorrow we'll have been in our home for a whole year already, and that's definitely something to celebrate! Do something nice for yourself too - you've earned it. I'll be back in 2 weeks, until then...
Wear A Hat, Drink Water, Save The NHS...
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Sources COVID
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
UK Health Data
US CDC respiratory dashboard
Reference pages H5N1
https://www.paho.org/en/topics/avian-influenza
https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html
UK cases Measles
Canada Measles
ECDC Weekly Report
(https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Communicable-disease-threats-report-week-17-2025.pdf)
Sources for Images
UK HSA RSV vaccination efficacy image
UK HSA shiga STEC image
WHO vaccination saves lives image
MRNA vaccines image UK HSA
WHO Sudan image
Sources for text
Resident doctors
NHS figures reveal impact of five-day resident doctors' strike
Resident doctors pay and conditions.
Nurses to 'overwhelmingly' reject pay deal as strike vote looms
Nurses threaten strike action
UK weekly COVID update
Weekly U.S. COVID update Week 2
- New cases: 73,114 est / Admissions: 5,118 (+13%) / In hospital: 3,733 (+11%) / In ICU: 471 (+7%) / New deaths: 198 / Average: 187 (-6%)
COVID cases are rising across the United States, leading to an increase in emergency department visits among all ages. Cases are up 4 weeks in a row.
US Week 1 COVID update
New cases: 65,100 est. / Admissions: 4,557 (+5%) / In hospital: 3,380 (+8%) / In ICU: 440 (-7%) / New deaths: 175 / Average: 199 (-8%)
US CDC respiratory dashboard
US COVID uptick
RFK Jr cancels mRNA vaccines
https://x.com/disclosetv/status/1952855223048847734?t=ixW8WkPh0r2ivwp7GAHp6g&s=19
Meta analysis of XBB.1.5 COVID-19 vaccine's efficacy against XBB variant and JN.1 variant.
Against Infection 53.7% & 28.3%.
Against covid-19 related death 77.3% & 57.1%.
HIV mRNA trial results
Angie Rasmussen Substack mRNA
RFK Jr cancels mRNA
Osterholm quote
RSV and kids under 5
CIDRAP
BBC STEC E-Coli
Annual data Lyme disease
Lyme disease be aware
BMA seeks deal on doctor unemployment as survey reveals half of resident doctors finishing foundation training have no job for next month - BMA media centre - BMA
University of Colorado Cancer Centre
"COVID-19 reactivates dormant breast cancer, triggering deadly metastasis (shown in mice). In humans, cancer survivors who got COVID had 4.5× higher cancer-related deaths—and 1.4× greater breast cancer."
Study COVID reawakens Cancer - in lungs too
Again - cancer reawakened by COVID and flu
Article COVID and flu reawaken cancer
United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)
The US CDC finally has a head, and somewhat bizarrely, she was confirmed by the Senate
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-29/us-senate-confirms-susan-monarez-as-director-of-the-cdc
History of the CDC
Latest US measles cases
US measles CDC
UK Measles
https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/vaccine-preventable-diseases/measles
Flutrackers latest on Measles in Mexico: 12 deaths
https://www.reddit.com/r/ContagionCuriosity/s/jrXLvMZrf5
Mexico
Mongolia measles deaths
Study
Global Estimates of Lives and Life-Years Saved by COVID-19 Vaccination During 2020-2024
peer reviews
Peer review vaccination lives
Australian study Sept 2022.
US COVID lives saved
UK
Bird Flu UK England and Scotland
https://www.reddit.com/r/H5N1_AvianFlu/s/yLZclSPjSV
H5N1 transmission on dairy farms
Cambodia H5N1 - case 15 young girl
Cambodia 14th case of human with H5N1 (older clade). Ill including breathing problems, plucked dead chickens 3 days before fell ill.
(14 cases, 5 deaths to date)
Florida officials warn about risks of drinking raw milk after 21 people sickened
https://x.com/AlastairMcA30/status/1952580635060773183?t=V3A_vDQYD862A3oZK3_uLQ&s=09
Legionnaires disease
Legionnaires New York City
Major increase in colorectal cancer in younger adults tied to pandemic years, researchers say | The Independent
Colon cancer
Colorectal study JAMA
Sec Kennedy says diet can cure violence and schizophrenia
https://x.com/DrNeilStone/status/1953464438339580181?t=45u4BSgordyYyTroxzR55w&s=09
Sec ken
WHO Sudan
Sudan immunization campaign July
Sudan polio vaccine
Gaza
https://www.ochaopt.org/content/west-bank-monthly-snapshot-casualties-property-damage-and-displacement-june-2025
Hospitals
Nasser BBC
Hospitals WHO
IPC famine alert
Remaining functional hospitals
Nasser only hospital left
Nasser video 7th July
Nasser late July
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