Medical Centre

An article published in the BMJ by Allyah Abbas-Hanif, Neena Modi and myself discusses the long term implications of Covid-19 in pregnancy. Covid-19 in pregnancy increases the risk of severe complications for both mother and baby. The long term implications are unknown, but emerging signals warn of substantial public health threats. To counter high vaccine hesitancy in pregnancy we must end the default exclusion of pregnant women from the rigorous regulated drug development process and implement systematic, long term, population-wide surveillance of infected and non-infected people. The full article can be read in the British Medical Journal . 

Thanks to Covid-19 vaccination, we have seen a substantial weakening of the link between Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations / deaths in the UK. But we don't yet know how well this protection from serious illness and death will persist in the longer-term. We are also seeing "vaccine fatigue" set in with many people not keen on booster vaccines. For the UK, the future challenges will include determining how frequently and in what groups Covid-19 booster vaccines are needed; ensuring a high take-up of vaccinations in all eligible groups; and having vaccines that are updated when necessary to protect against new variants. We have already had one additional booster vaccination programme in the UK this year; which targeted people 75 and over, residents of care homes, and people who are immunocompromised. A larger booster programme is planned for later this year that will target a wider range of people, including NHS staff. Although some people are very optimistic about th...

Earlier this month, a case of Monkeypox was reported in London, followed by reports of further cases in the UK and in many other countries. Understandably, people are anxious whenever an outbreak of an unusual infectious disease occurs, likely more so because of their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although we need to take the disease seriously, Monkeypox is much less of a threat to global health than Covid-19 and won’t have the same impact on societies or lead to the type of control measures we have seen for Covid-19 over the past two years. The virus that causes Monkeypox is found primarily in small animals, like rodents, in parts of West and Central Africa – but was first identified in monkeys (hence the name). It can sometimes spread to humans and because of international travel, then spread to other parts of the world. But unlike Covid-19, which is easily transmissible and has caused huge waves of infection globally, Monkeypox spreads much more slowly, requiring close c...

Whether it be a simple telephone call or more sophisticated video conferencing systems, virtual care tools have been in use in primary care settings worldwide in one form or another throughout the past two decades. Over time, these tools have grown in availability, matured in their capabilities, but played a largely supportive role as an alternative option to traditional face-to-face consultations. This all changed in early 2020 with the onset of the COVID_19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a unique opportunity globally which put virtual care tools at the forefront of primary care delivery. The need for social distancing to limit disease transmission resulted in virtual care tools becoming the primary means with which to continue providing primary care services. Hence, our study’s goal was to capture the spectrum of GP experiences using virtual care tools during the initial months of the pandemic so as to better understand the perceived benefits and challenges, and explore wh...

In this concise guide, Dr Sophie Farooque – a Consultant in Allergy at St. Mary’s Hospital in London and one of the UK’s leading experts on the treatment of allergic disorders – gives an excellent overview of allergies that will be a very useful guide for the public and also for health professionals.  Allergic disorders have increased substantially in prevalence in recent decades. This is shown in our personal experience as well as by research on the epidemiology of allergic disorders. When I was in school, problems such as hay fever and food allergy were all uncommon in my classmates. This in contrast to now, when many families will have a member who suffers from an allergic disorder. In milder cases, these disorders can be irritating and reduce people’s quality of life. But in more severe cases, they can lead to hospitalisation and sometimes even to death.  Hence, some knowledge of allergies and how they can be managed is very helpful to families who have a member who suffer...

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers and most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Despite the availability of screening, disparities in survival from colorectal continue in certain ethnic minority groups. This may, in part, be secondary to low take-up of bowel cancer screening. Different ethnic groups may have different cultural and health beliefs, different levels of education, understanding and acculturation that negatively impacts upon their use of faecal testing and endoscopic procedures. In a systematic review published in the journal Perspectives in Public Health , we examined studies that had investigated ethnic differences in the uptake of colorectal cancer screening. We found that disparities in colorectal cancer screening are multifactorial and complex in their origin and that ethnicity plays an important role. Although seemingly intuitive, this is the first systematic review that summarises the association between uptake of screening in specific ethnic gr...

In the USA, over one-third of adults self-diagnose their conditions using the internet, including queries about urgent (ie, chest pain) and non-urgent (ie, headache) symptoms. The main issue with self-diagnosing using websites such as Google and Yahoo is that user may get confusing or inaccurate information, and in the case of urgent symptoms, the user may not be aware of the need to seek emergency care. In recent years, various online symptom checkers (OSCs) based on algorithms or artificial intelligence (AI) have emerged to fill this gap Online symptom checkers are calculators that ask users to input details about their symptoms of sickness, along with personal information such as gender and age. Using algorithms or AI, the symptom checkers propose a range of conditions that fit the symptoms the user experiences. Developers promote these digital tools as a way of saving time for patients, reducing anxiety and giving patients the opportunity to take control of their own health. The di...