News | Infectious diseases

News

Government confirms first case of ‘clade Ib’ mpox virus detected in the UK

The UK Health Security Agency says that despite this being the first confirmed case in the UK, “the risk for the general population is very low and remains so for this incident”.…

Published: 31 October 2024

News

UK’s first potential norovirus vaccine to be trialled by UK government partnership with Moderna

Data show that the norovirus is estimated to cause 3.7 million infections in the UK each year.…

Published: 23 October 2024

News

NICE rejects cabotegravir for PrEP in draft guidance

Draft guidance said the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) treatment cabotegravir is not recommended because “it is not possible to determine the cost-effectiveness estimate ... without further analyses from the manufacturer”.…

Published: 30 September 2024

Feature

Everything you need to know about the NHS antibiotic subscription model

Following what has been deemed a successful pilot, NHS England is hoping that its new subscription model will boost drug development by paying manufacturers a fixed fee for antimicrobials.…

Published: 26 September 2024

News

UK government announces mpox vaccination programme

The government has ordered 150,000 additional doses of mpox vaccine in preparation for any clade I cases that may enter the UK.…

Published: 18 September 2024

Feature

Mpox: how is the UK preparing for the latest variant?

With the first cases of a new mpox strain emerging in Europe and Asia in August 2024, the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern” for the second time in two years. So what is the ‘clade I’ mpox virus and what risk does it po…

Published: 17 September 2024

News

COVID-19 Inquiry must consider pharmacy resilience in case of future pandemics, says RPS

A statement from the RPS emphasised how much the complexity and fragility of medicine supply chains were exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to widespread shortages.…

Published: 13 September 2024

News

Government advises NHS service providers to hold PPE stocks in response to mpox risk

The NHS Health Security Agency has advised pharmacies to ensure they have adequate stocks of PPE for the assessment and treatment of anyone who may present with suspected clade I mpox virus.…

Published: 21 August 2024

News

More than 10,000 whooping cough cases reported in first six months of 2024

Case numbers of whooping cough in 2024 so far have already exceeded the total number of cases reported in 2012, the last major outbreak of the disease.…

Published: 13 August 2024

News

Rapid UTI test wins £8m Longitude Prize on Antimicrobial Resistance

The winning test uses a urine sample on a smartphone-sized cartridge to identify the presence of a bacterial infection in 15 minutes and the antibiotic required within 45 minutes.…

Published: 13 June 2024