Health News

Independent Sage, a pressure group of eminent experts who've pushed for an Australian-style virus elimination strategy, said compulsory masks and widespread WFH were 'urgently' needed to 'save the NHS and Christmas'. The group - which includes a former Government chief scientific adviser (top right, Sir David King), a Communist Party member (top left, Professor Susan Michie) and several of No10's own scientists - claimed 'very high levels of Covid' were putting 'extreme pressure' on the health service. Independent Sage's call to action comes after a swathe of stats laid bare the extent of the crisis within the NHS, with waiting lists for routine care soaring to another high and 999 calls and ambulance waits hitting record levels. Doctors said that the NHS was being brought 'to its knees' with patients being left to die in the back of ambulances and waiting rooms because staff are so busy (backlog for routine care, bottom right). But other experts argue the current Covid situation doesn't justify moving to Plan B, given that admissions for the virus have fallen for nearly a week straight and are projected to fall even more in the coming weeks (pressure now compared to last year, shown left).

Britain's daily Covid cases rose by nearly a fifth today as Boris Johnson used Europe's rising epidemic to urge Britons to get their booster vaccines. The Department of Health reported another 40,375 infections across the UK over the past 24 hours, marking a rise of 19 per cent compared to last Friday and the second day in a row they've risen. The rising numbers came as Mr Johnson warned that there were 'storm clouds gathering over parts of the European continent'. In a noticeable shift in tone, the PM said: 'I've got to be absolutely frank with people, we've been here before - and we remember what happens when a wave starts rolling in.' Mr Johnson, speaking during a visit to a pharmacy in Sidcup, suggested that Britain's fate this winter hinged on how many people got their booster jabs.

EXCLUSIVE: Dr Farah Jameel (pictured right), a GP in Camden, London, is one of two contenders shortlisted for the vacant role of chair of the British Medical Association's (BMA) general practitioners committee. Outgoing boss Dr Richard Vautrey (inset) last week announced he would step down at the end of November, after leading the left-wing union's rebellion against Government plans to force GPs to see more patients in person. Now MailOnline can reveal one of the candidates to take the helm has already complained about family doctors having to provide non-care services. In her first-person piece for industry publication GPOnline in 2018, the United Arab Emirates-born medic claimed offering the services 'is another example of GPs' goodwill being exploited and taken advantage of.' The article was attached with a strap that said: 'You wouldn't expect a builder to do a job on the side for free, or ask a lawyer to do some extra work without being paid for it. So why should it be any different for GPs?.' The same publication that Dr Jameel published in described them as being a 'vital' part of service. Dr Jameel is running up against Dr Chandra Kanneganti, Conservative councilor and Lord Mayor for Stoke-on-Trent (pictured left).

Theresa Ingram-Gettins - who runs the Boldmere Court Care Home in Birmingham -said it was 'very difficult' to have to let staff go, knowing that she is 'putting them into poverty'. She claimed England's new 'no jab, no job' policy was 'affecting people's mental health' after it kicked in at midnight and forced up to 60,000 care home staff out of work. The care boss added that staff were now being forced to work extra hours to make up for the vacancies, which was taking a toll on those still in employment's 'physical wellbeing'. She told Good Morning Britain: 'We're tired, we're worn out, we've just come through a pandemic - give us a break Boris.' All care home workers in England, including cleaners and receptionists, are now legally required to have had both of their Covid vaccines. It's thought that as many as 57,000 failed to hit the deadline today, which care bosses say will create dangerous staffing levels that puts residents' lives at risk.

England's deputy chief medical officer warned there will be some 'twists and bumps' along the way and admitted that the situation was becoming harder to forecast (top right). But he told a medical conference today: 'I think, generally speaking, waters will be quite a lot calmer after Easter.' Professor Van-Tam warned this was dependent on the successful roll out of the booster doses, which are being offered to all over-50s. His words were in stark contrast to eminent epidemiologist Professor Tim Spector (bottom right), who warned that it would take years to become a manageable, seasonal virus.

NHS England data shows 1.6million more Britons were waiting for elective surgery - such as hip and keen operations - at the end of September compared to the start of the pandemic (shown in graph). The Covid-fuelled backlog forced hospitals to cancel thousands of operations during the darkest days of the crisis to make room for the infected. NHS bosses today warned the treating thousand of hospitalised Covid patients, winter pressures and pent-up demand from the pandemic means the health service is now facing 'unsustainable' pressure. But official figures show Covid infections and hospitalisation rates are trending downwards. And around 7,000 patients were in hospitals in England on any given day in the last week, compared to 12,000 at the same time last year.

Department of Health bosses posted another 39,329 today, a drop of 4.8 per cent on the 41,299 infections recorded last Wednesday (shown in graph, left). And deaths and hospitalisations were down week-on-week, with a further 214 fatalities recorded and 823 Covid-Britons seeking NHS care (hospitalisations shown in graph, right). Both measurements lag two to three weeks behind the trend in cases, due to delay between a person catching Covid and becoming severely unwell. Meanwhile, 79.8 per cent of over-12s across the UK are now double jabbed, while 10.9million people have had a booster injection. It comes amid a growing row over the Government's 'no jab, no job' policy, with care home workers facing the sack tomorrow if they are not fully immunised. And the same policy has been introduced for NHS workers, who have until spring to get both doses.

Sajid Javid has defended the Government's 'no jab no job' policy for NHS staff, despite his department's own projections that it will push 70,000 workers out of the health service. The Government estimates also project that the policy will only convince 20,000 of the 120,000 unvaccinated. Health unions have warned that the policy threatens to do more harm than good by exacerbating crippling staff shortages in the NHS which currently has 100,000 vacancies. Speaking on radio this morning Mr Javid said it was NHS staff's 'duty' to get the jab in order to protect patients and that the Government's request for them to get vaccinated by April 1 was 'perfectly reasonable'. His comments comes as the deadline for staff in the care sector to get vaccinated ends at midnight.

Campaign group Action for Sugar looked at 73 sweet snacks targeted at children. They said a third of the products would have a red label for sugar if baby and toddler foods were required to have traffic light labelling on the front of their packets. All of the most sugary snacks featured claims that emphasised health benefits - such 'packed with vitamins' or 'made with real fruit' - which 'could be distracting and possibly misleading'. And less than one in 10 products would get a green label for sugars. Action for Sugar said the findings are of 'deep concern' because babies and young children should not be eating any free sugars at all. Pictured: six sweet snacks aimed at youngsters, which Action for Sugar found to have the highest amount of sugar per serving.

A white paper into the impact of the policy was published by the Department of Health tonight after Sajid Javid announced that all frontline NHS workers in England need to be double-jabbed against Covid by April 1 or they will be sacked. The document estimates that just 22,000 of the 125,000 currently unvaccinated staff - including medics, cleaners, porters and receptionists - will get their Covid jabs by that deadline (shown top). It also shows that ministers expect 73,000 not to come forward for the vaccines and by default lose their job.  The remaining 30,000 are medically exempt. Mr Javid said the 'scales clearly tipped to one side' in favour of compulsory jabs, but critics say they are unnecessary given that 90 per cent of staff are already fully jabbed and 93 per cent have had their first dose. But NHS staff have said they fear colleagues 'will simply leave' over the move. Ryan Balment (pictured right), 38, was set to graduate as a nurse in two years, but says he will now become a dog trainer

Covid 'directly and indirectly, increased average deaths by 16 per cent in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations (shown right) and sent British life to its lowest level since 2010, dropping a whole year to 80.4 years (shown left). Overall life expectancy has taken a hit in 24 out of the 30 nations (80 per cent) for which there was reliable data in the year-and-a-half of the pandemic so far, the report found. In terms of other nations itfell the most in the US, with Americans losing 1.6 years of life per capita, followed by Spain where it fell one-and-a-half years, Lithuania and Poland (both 1.3 years), as well as in Belgium and Italy (1.2). The findings put the UK and the US in the bottom 10 countries for overall life expectancy, despite being among the richest in the OECD. The only nations which did not take a hit to life expectancy were Norway, Denmark, Finland and Latvia, as well as Japan and Costa Rica. In terms of confirmed Covid deaths, the US and UK had the 10th and 11th highest tolls, respectively, both recording around 2,000 deaths per million people.

Britain's daily infections have dropped week-on-week on all but one day since October 24 and experts have been anticipating deaths and hospitalisations to follow. Another 262 Covid deaths were also registered today, a 11 per cent decrease compared to the number last Tuesday. Latest hospital data shows that there were 834 admissions on November 5, down 17 per cent in a week. The country is believed to be enjoying a spell of high natural immunity following a summer in which there was very high transmission in the UK compared to its European neighbours. Booster vaccines and strong protection in younger groups from the original two-dose rollout are contributing to dwindling case numbers, experts say.

Autumn Warner (pictured left, shortly after birth, and right, after undergoing an operation) was born in Kamloops, Canada nine weeks early on July 5 by emergency C-section. Her birth defect - a condition called gastroschisis - causes the intestines to form on the outside of the body. Doctors, who also had to remove an obstruction from her intestine and perform four blood transfusions, saved Autumn's life after feeding her intestines back into her body in a gruelling procedure. Autumn, who is now four months old, was able to return home after a 110-day stint in hospital. Her lab assistant mother Holly Striloff, 33, (inset with partner Travis Warner) said: 'It was incredibly tough to see Autumn in that condition when all we wanted to do is hold her. 'It's unnatural to not be able to hug your baby or take her home to be with her family so a lot of it was just getting over the fact that although she was right by us, we couldn't do anything with her yet.

Seeking help for sexual health problems can not only be embarrassing but is also increasingly difficult, with the number of face-to-face appointments now halved as a result of the pandemic.  A host of new products in pharmacies and online promise to help. Caroline Jones asked the experts to assess some of the latest options available. We then rated them.  They include the Spermcheck Male Fertility Test, bottom left, the Stud 100 Desensitizing Spray For Men, far left and the free Glow Period Fertility Tracker app, top right.

During a round of interviews this morning, Amanda Pritchard suggested that there were '14 times' more coronavirus patients in hospital now compared to 'this time last year'. The claim was picked up and circulated by a number of mainstream, left-leaning news outlets including Sky News, ITV and The i. Ms Pritchard made the comments as she urged people to come forward for their booster vaccines and warned that the health service was under 'very real pressure'. Yet latest data from the Government's dashboard shows there were 800 average daily Covid admissions and 7,000 inpatients in England on Friday. In the first of November 2020, for comparison, the country was recording about 1,300 admissions per day and there were more than 11,000 patients in hospital with the disease. Pictured: Admissions now vs 2020, shown left; inpatient numbers now compared to last year, top right; Ms Pritchard, bottom right.

When I was 19, I was admitted to hospital for a sinus operation and suffered from post-operative headaches and other side-effects, likely caused by the anaesthetic. However, this was incorrectly diagnosed, and I was prescribed a series of antidepressants and sleeping pills. I remained on these for years with very little monitoring, until I eventually went cold turkey in 2009 on the advice of my doctor at the time. I experienced devastating withdrawal symptoms and was unable to work or leave the house for years. The suffering was indescribable: symptoms included severe memory and cognitive problems, sensory distortions, extreme anxiety, insomnia, tinnitus and nerve pain.

LAURA FULCHER: My GP was so unconcerned by my symptoms, I'd begun to doubt they even existed. Was it all down to my imagination? It wasn't. A tumour was growing in my abdomen - I did indeed have bowel cancer - but it would be another six months before I got the diagnosis. On that day I felt powerless to do anything about it. I didn't have the courage to challenge my GP and looking back I realise I must have appeared young and healthy. Around 43,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK every year. While 60 per cent are over 70, more than 2,500 people under 50 are diagnosed each year and many face delays to treatment.

The U.S. has joined eight other countries as the only nations in the world vaccinating kids under age 12. El Salvador, Chile (bottom right), Ecuador and Indonesia are vaccinating kids aged six and older. Argentina, Bahrain, China and the United Arab Emirates have begun jabbing kids aged three and older while Cubs (top right) is vaccinating kids as young as age two. It comes as First Lady Jill Biden visited a McLean, Virginia elementary school Monday (left) and urged parents to vaccinate their kids against COVID-19. Franklin Sherman Elementary School was the first school in the nation to host a polio vaccine clinic on April 26, 1954. On Monday at the Virginia school, 260 kids ages five through 11 were given their first Pfizer dose.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc announced on Monday that its antibody cocktail can severely slash the risk of being infected with COVID-19 for up to eight months.  The combo therapy, REGEN-COV, was approved in November 2020 for emergency use to treat people with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases in the U.S. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded authorization in July 2021 so the drug can also be used as a preventive treatment.

Sweden became an international outlier last year when it defied scientific advice and refused to follow the rest of the world in shutting down society to curb the virus' spread. Not only has Sweden's economy bounced back faster than any other country in Europe, latest data shows that it has also fared better than most in terms of lives lost during the pandemic. Sweden has suffered almost 1,500 confirmed Covid deaths per million people, according to Oxford University-based research platform Our World in Data , which is lower than the European average (1,800). The UK - which has endured three national lockdowns and several regional fire-breakers - has recorded 2,100 per million, for comparison, while Belgium and Italy both have rates above 2,000. When looking at excess mortality during the pandemic, Sweden ranks just 21st out of 31 European countries with 5 per cent more deaths since March last year than would be expected. Sweden has suffered almost 1,500 confirmed Covid deaths per million people, according to Oxford University-based research platform Our World in Data , which is lower than the European average (1,800). The UK - which has endured three national lockdowns and several regional fire-breakers - has recorded 2,100 per million, for comparison, while Belgium and Italy both have rates above 2,000. When looking at excess mortality during the pandemic, Sweden ranks just 21st out of 31 European countries with 5 per cent more deaths since March last year than would be expected.

Care bosses have issued a desperate plea for No10 to delay or even ditch its 'timebomb' no jab, no job policy to shore up the NHS and help them through the long winter. From Thursday all care home workers must have received two doses of the Covid vaccine or face losing their jobs. Health chiefs warn this risks a mass exodus of up to 60,000 employees — about a tenth of the workforce —, which will force hundreds of homes to limit their bed numbers or close completely. Nadra Ahmed, the chair of the National Care Association, today called on Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Sajid Javid to slam the brakes onto the plans to avoid harming society's most vulnerable. She told MailOnline: 'It is not too late for the Secretary of State and, indeed, the Prime Minister to halt this legislation in the best interests of the people we care for.' 

Charlotte Watson (pictured left and right), now five, from Brighton in East Sussex, experienced symptoms of fatigue in July 2020 and soon after began suffering from toe pain and loss of appetite. Mum Angela West, 41, (inset with daughters Charlote, left. and Poppy, right) took Charlotte to see a doctor in September but claimed medics told her it was just growing pains after checking her vitals. Tests at A&E; two months later revealed Charlotte had stage four high risk neuroblastoma. Some 100 children in the UK are diagnosed with the rare cancer every year, which develops from nerve cells left behind from a baby's development in the womb, and is most common in youngsters under the age of five. Ms West, a hairdresser, said: 'When we initially found out it was a tumour, I could feel the ground falling from beneath me.'

Lillie Monro, 24, from Halstead, Essex had always struggled with her weight and was spending as much as £800 per month on fast food - often having takeaway burger for breakfast. Weighing 19st 1lb after giving birth to her daughter Mila, Lillie pledged to change and swapped her takeouts for salads - going from a size 22-24 (pictured left) to a 10-12 (pictured middle, right) in just one year.

Louise Akester, 36, had her contract with NHS care home Alderson House, Hull, terminated because of the Government's requirement for all care workers to get double jabbed from November 11. All care workers in adult care homes who do not have medical exemptions must have two doses of a Coronavirus vaccine. But in the wider NHS, staff must have their second jab by April next year. Louise has worked in the care sector for 14 years, but refused to be vaccinated regardless of the new government rule, and sobbed as she was forced to leave her job. Speaking within minutes of finishing her last shift, Ms Akester sobs as she says in the video: That's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, saying goodbye to everybody, all the people that I've cared for, for so long, the people I've worked with. 'It's been so emotional, this is so unfair. I just can't believe what the bloody government is doing to us, I just don't get it, I don't understand.' She previously said she was refusing to get the vaccine until 'we know more about the potential long-term side effects'. Figures suggest some 60,000 care home employees in England - roughly a tenth of the entire workforce - are still yet to turn up for two jabs, and half of these have not even had their first dose.  They all face the axe by Thursday.

Saiqa Parveen, 37, (pictured left) from Birmingham, had decided to wait until she had given birth to her fifth child before she went to get vaccinated. She was eight-months pregnant when she contracted the virus on September 14 and as her conditioned worsened, she was taken to intensive care at the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield (inset) where she tragically died on November 1. Doctor's battled to save Saiqa's life, placing her on a ventilator in intensive care before she underwent an emergency caesarean section at full term on September 26. She leaves behind her beloved husband Majid Ghafur, 40, (right) and her five daughters Noor, 12, Imaan, 11, Hibbah, eight and Ayesha, six - and their newborn baby Dua, who she never got to hold or see.

A primary school teacher who lost all four limbs to sepsis has returned to the classroom having been fitted with bionic arms. When Kath Tregenna, 47, developed a fever a couple of years ago she called the NHS 111 number for help. Her call handler then noticed she had described symptoms of sepsis and sent an ambulance. After arriving at hospital Mrs Tregenna suffered between seven and 11 cardiac arrests. In a bid to prevent the spread of the sepsis, doctors later amputated both of her legs below the knee and both arms below the elbow.

Amie Walton, 29, (right) was told on Halloween 2021 that there was nothing more doctors could do for her. She is a young mother-of-two and a fundraising page has been set up to help prolong her life. The 29-year-old has two children, Harry, seven, and Mia, five (left).Ms Walton has been told that a form of radiotherapy cant SIRT (Selective Internal Radiation Therapy) could enable her to watch her children grow up. But the therapy is not available on the NHS and will cost £35,000 to have privately.

Laura Woodward, 24, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, received the news her baby had gastroschisis - a rare birth defect that causes a baby's intestines to be born on the outside of their body - shortly after her 12-week scan. The mother was terrified, but after a tense few months little Millie Woodward was born via planned C-section on 11 December 2020, weighing 5lb 11ozs, at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool. Right, inset; Baby Millie with her organs wrapped in clingfilm after birth. Left, Millie at 11-months with mum Laura.

Defensive medicine is a broad term, encompassing a range of situations. But in a nutshell it's when doctors carry out a test or procedure or offer treatment that may not be warranted, simply in order to avoid the remote possibility of a complaint or legal action should the patient be unhappy. In one study, 87.5% of doctors admitted they'd practised defensive medicine of some kind. Invasive biopsies carried out on harmless lumps and growths. Patients with mild heart disease undergoing stent operations that may not benefit them at all. X-rays and CT scans being carried out for common headaches and bad backs. Margaret Simson (left), 73, from Edinburgh, ended up in intensive care and spent two years with a stoma bag after an 'unnecessary' colonoscopy procedure to investigate chronic bowel symptoms. Recent high-profile criminal cases 'make doctors paranoid', according to Prof Roger Kirby, president of the Royal College of Medicine. He points to the case of trainee paediatrician Hadiza Bawa-Garba (top right), who was convicted of manslaughter after six-year-old Jack Adcock died of sepsis that she had mistakenly diagnosed as gastroenteritis. Bawa-Garba has had her licence to practise restored - but the case proves doctors today risk being criminalised for their mistakes

Maria Esther Roque Diaz, 27, of Maryland, contracted COVID-19 last November. She was pregnant at the time, and eventually was hospitalized and even placed on life support. While on life support she gave birth prematurely to her child. She survived the harrowing experience, but is now urging other pregnant women to get vaccinated to avoid a fate similar to hers. Pregnant women are among the least vaccinated demographics in America (inset).

Former FDA commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb said on CNBC's Squawk Box on Friday (left( that he believes the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. will end by January. He heralded antiviral pills developed by Pfizer and Merck, which, when approved by the FDA, will be new tools to fight the pandemic. Gottlieb also said that in the next two months he expects COVID-19 to become an endemic disease - meaning always circulating but at low rates. He adds, by next year, the U.S. won't need Biden's mandate requiring companies with at least 100 employees to get workers vaccinated or test them weekly. 'These mandates that are going to be put in place by January 4 really are coming on the tail end of this pandemic,' Gottlieb told host Joe Kernen. 'By January 4, this pandemic may well be over, at least as it relates to the United States after we get through this Delta wave of infection. And we'll be in a more endemic phase of this virus.'

Daily testing data from Our World in Data - an Oxford University-based research platform which complies national statistics - shows the UK yesterday dropped to the fourth most-infectious country in Western Europe, after holding the top spot for four months (left graph). The UK yesterday recorded 37,269 postivie tests - equivalent to 574 people per million (top right graph) - while the figure for Austria was 674 per million. Cases had been rising in the UK over the summer, but the most recent peak was recorded on October 21, when 52,009 positive tests were registered. Meanwhile, rates are on the rise in much of Europe, including in Austria, Belgium and Ireland, as well as in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Iceland. It follows criticism from European leaders in recent week over the UK's lack of restrictions and high case numbers - which peaked last month at a level 30 per cent lower than infections seen at the height of the second wave. Pictured: bottom right graph shows number of daily tests conducted by Western European nations.

UK pelvic floor exercise device sellers have slammed an impending decision by Amazon to classify the gadgets as sex toys, a move some say will put people off the treatments through shame. According to sellers, from November 15 Amazon will classify pelvic devices as the same as dildos and sex dolls, limiting them to sale it its 'adults only' section. Some commentators have slammed the decision, saying it could further put Brits off seeking help for embarrassing continence and intimacy problems. Pelvic floor exercise devices are in some cases recommended by the GPs and physiotherapists to help patients with pelvic floor exercises. The exercises are a series of internal movements designed to strengthen the muscles around the bladder, bottom and genitals, and can be with or without a gadget aid. Both women, and some men, are advised to do the daily exercises to help regain bladder control following an operation or pregnancy, or deal with pain during sex. The exercises are also recommended for those seeking stronger and more pleasurable orgasms.

It has been nearly 30 years since Earvin 'Magic' Johnson suddenly retired from basketball due to an HIV diagnosis. He revealed in an interview this week that he was terrified at the time, and was afraid that he would die. At the time, there was a large stigma around people with HIV. Johnson immediately became one of the most high profile people with the virus. He is still today living a healthy life despite his infection.

At a Texas vaccine pop-up clinic, workers mistakenly gave two young children, ages 6 and 7, adult doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine - two days before they were eligible. The children are doing fine, but their parents and pediatricians are monitoring them for any serious side effects. The local public health department is investigating the incident. Pfizer doses for children aged 5-11 are one-third the size of adult doses, to reduce side effects for kids while still providing a strong immune response.

Antiviral molnupiravir was shown in clinical trials to slash the risk of hospitalisation by half in vulnerable and elderly patients. The tablet - which will be sold under the brand name Lagevrio - will be given twice a day to people within a week of testing positive. It will be targeted at those who are deemed high risk, including Britons over the age of 60, or patients with heart disease, diabetes, obesity, or other comorbidities. Health secretary Sajid Javid said the treatment was a 'gamechanger' for the most frail and immunosuppressed, who are vulnerable to Covid even when vaccinated. The pill is expected to be rolled out on the NHS within weeks, providing the country with an extra layer of defence heading into winter.

Children in the U.S. have been hospitalized with COVID-19 at higher rates than under-18s in England have been. From September 30 to October 6, between 0.07 children per 100,000 and 0.19 per 100,000 in England were being admitted to hospitals with Covid. Over the same time period, between 0.29 and 0.33 per 100,000 children in the U.S. were hospitalized due to the virus, up to four times higher (left). Experts say masks and vaccines don't explain the disparity between masks aren't required in English schools and more minors in the U.S. are vaccinated. Doctors say frequent testing among England's schoolchildren have caught more cases earlier, preventing hospitalization. Additionally, there are higher rates of underlying conditions among U.S. kids, such as obesity, increasing the risk of hospitalization.