News | Infectious diseases

News

Medicines derived from UK blood plasma distributed to NHS hospitals for ‘first time in a generation’

More than 250,000 litres of plasma from UK donors have been sent to human protein product manufacturer Octapharma to produce NHS medicines for the first time since a 1998 ban.…

Published: 28 March 2025

News

Genomics surveillance programme for hepatitis C launched by UK Health Security Agency

In order to monitor hepatitis C virus strains that are resistant to antiviral medicines, the UK Health Security Agency has set up a genomic surveillance programme to seek genetic markers for drug resistance.…

Published: 21 March 2025

News

Pharmacy involvement absent from almost half of TB services in England, report finds

The report, authored by the Getting It Right First Time projects team at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, pointed out that pharmacy was absent in 43% of TB services.…

Published: 20 March 2025

News

HIV patients should switch to long-acting antiretroviral injectable treatments sooner, study concludes

Researchers found that 98% of patients who were not virally suppressed at the start of the study had non-detectable viral loads after 11 months of long-acting antiretroviral injectable treatment.…

Published: 14 March 2025

Opinion

How a global health partnership with an NHS trust has transformed care for patients in Zambia

By partnering with King’s College London, pharmacists at Ndola Teaching Hospital in Zambia have learnt from their counterparts working at St George’s Hospital infectious disease department.…

Published: 10 March 2025

News

NHS England to commission whooping cough vaccination service through community pharmacies

The respiratory syncytial virus and pertussis vaccination service is aimed to help supplement vaccination programmes delivered by GPs and NHS trusts.…

Published: 6 March 2025

News

Community pharmacy offers ‘key opportunity’ for increasing flu vaccination uptake in children, says NHS England chief

Amanda Pritchard said exploring the use of other flu vaccination providers — including community pharmacy — to expand convenience was one of three “key opportunities to go further” identified by NHS England.…

Published: 6 March 2025

News

Use community pharmacies to combat falling vaccine uptake, report urges

A report published by the Company Chemists’ Association on behalf of the Pharmacy Vaccinations Development Group has suggested that community pharmacies are well placed to increase vaccine uptake, raise patients’ confidence and prevent ill health.…

Published: 26 February 2025

News

Whooping cough cases increase by 1,600% in a year, data show

Data from the UK Health Security Agency show that in 2024, the total number of pertussis cases exceeded the total cases observed during the 2012 whooping cough outbreak in England.…

Published: 25 February 2025

Feature

Allergic rhinitis: diagnosis and treatment

Allergic rhinitis can have a significant impact on quality of life, as well as performance in school and at work. In most cases, symptoms can be treated with a variety of products available from community pharmacies.…

Published: 19 February 2025

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