Health news round-up: public health, cardiovascular risk and take-up of new medicines on the NHS

In The Pharmaceutical Journal this week, we reported that patients are spending less on over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, while pharmaceutical companies are investing more on weight-loss drugs.

Meanwhile, a safety update from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has advised that some OTC nasal sprays containing xylometazoline and oxymetazoline should only be used for five days at most.

We also reported on calls from the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacy Group and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to integrate the British National Formulary for Children into all electronic prescribing and medicines administration (ePMA) systems.

Read on for more health news you may have missed over the past week.

Standard dose DOACs more favourable in Asian patients than warfarin

The results of a study published in the European Heart Journal on 30 April 2026 suggest that standard dose direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) were generally more favourable than warfarin in Asian patients, which reduced stroke, major bleeding and primary net clinical outcome to a greater degree than in non-Asian patients. Furthermore, standard-dose DOACs increased gastrointestinal bleeding only in non-Asians.

However, lower-dose DOACs significantly increased the risk of stroke, intracranial haemorrhage or death in Asian patients, compared with standard-dose DOACs, the study results revealed.

Pembrolizumab injections could save time for pharmacy teams

Patients in England have begun receiving pembrolizumab (Keytruda; Merck & Co.) injections to treat cancer, replacing up to two hours of infusion treatment under previous standard of care. NHS England said the new treatment could also remove “time-consuming” preparation of intravenous bags for hospital pharmacy aseptic teams.

More than one million people using combination inhalers

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also reported on NHS take-up of new therapies. The number of people using combination inhalers in England overtook those using reliever inhalers for the first time in data covering July to September 2025, which rose to more than one million people.

Commenting on the figures, Amina Al-Yassin, GP and clinical lead for children and young people’s services at Brent Integrated Care Partnership, said: “The blue inhaler or SABA [short-acting beta2 agonist] was the mainstay of asthma treatment for years, but that has changed. There is a big attitude shift.

“[SABA inhalers] make people feel better, but only briefly. We now know that over time they are likely to make asthma worse. Seeing a blue inhaler used alone is now a dangerous sign to me.”

Zoonotic viruses raise cautious concern

A cluster of seven confirmed and suspected cases of hantavirus, including three deaths as of 4 May 2026, has sparked a warning from the Global Virus Network (GVN).

Emma Thomson, director of the MRC–University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (MRC CVR), said: “This incident highlights how zoonotic viruses can emerge in confined or highly connected settings such as cruise ships.

“Hantaviruses are typically acquired through environmental exposure to rodent excreta; however, the key concern in this situation is the possible involvement of Andes virus, which is the only hantavirus known to transmit between humans, particularly in close-contact settings.”

Separately, the findings of a paper published in PLOS Biology on 5 May 2026 suggest that bird flu virus H5N1 may be spread by airborne transmission between cows and to humans in dairy parlours.

Ed Hutchinson, professor of molecular and cellular virology at the MRC CVR, commented: “One of the most concerning aspects of the ongoing H5N1 bird flu outbreak is the fact that the virus has adapted to grow well in cattle, providing this avian virus with opportunities to become better adapted to mammals and creating repeated opportunities for it to infect humans.

“For more than two years, it has been circulating in dairy cattle in the United States. So far none of the human cases of cow flu have led to onwards transmission of the virus, but the situation remains very concerning as a potential source of the next pandemic.”