News | Infectious diseases

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Community pharmacies in 2024/2025 administered highest number of flu vaccinations outside of pandemic

Of the 4 million flu vaccinations delivered by community pharmacies in England during the 2024/2025 flu season, data show that 11% were administered in the most deprived areas.…

Published: 17 June 2025

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MHRA publishes ‘world first’ decentralised manufacturing guidance

The guidance will inform the manufacture of medicines with a short shelf-life or highly personalised medicines at sites within or in close proximity to hospitals.…

Published: 13 June 2025

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UK issues first guideline on post-exposure prophylaxis for syphilis

The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV has highlighted research that shows how doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis reduces syphilis cases by 80%.…

Published: 11 June 2025

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Walk-in flu vaccine finder for community pharmacy to be launched for 2025/2026 flu season

NHS England said the “flu walk-in finder” was developed in response to patient feedback that complained of restrictions to the national booking service and a lack of information on clinic times.…

Published: 9 June 2025

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‘Massive change’ in antibiotic prescribing for children in primary care since COVID-19

Speaking at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress 2025, Kieran Hand announced that the number of patients aged under ten years old prescribed antibiotics in primary care had increased.…

Published: 2 June 2025

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Pharmacy flu vaccine delivery to over-65s increased by 20 percentage points in five years

Data from the UK Health Security Agency show that since 2019/2020, the proportion of vaccines administered to at-risk patients via community pharmacies rose from 11.4% to 26.7%.…

Published: 28 May 2025

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C. difficile cases increase by one-third over three years, government data show

Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show that a three-year increase in Clostridioides difficile infections in England was observed across all seven UKHSA regions.…

Published: 12 May 2025

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Antibiotic could help tackle drug-resistant gonorrhoea, study results suggest

Researchers found that gepotidacin was as effective as the current recommended first-line therapy for gonorrhoea.…

Published: 22 April 2025

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English pharmacy sore throat service twice as likely to supply antibiotics than Welsh equivalent

Researchers compared the antibiotic supply rates of the two schemes and found that 72.7% of patients in England were prescribed with antibiotics following a pharmacy consultation, compared with 29.9% in Wales.…

Published: 3 April 2025

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Community pharmacies in England could offer ‘catch-up’ HPV vaccinations

Updated NHS plans to eliminate cervical cancer have suggested community pharmacy as a location for catch-up vaccinations to improve access to the HPV vaccine.…

Published: 2 April 2025