Consequences:


Thousands of NHS staff with long Covid risk losing their pay
wrote:

Thousands of NHS staff across the UK are facing pay cuts because of a change in Covid sickness policy.

Analysis by BBC Panorama suggests that between 5,000 and 10,000 NHS workers could be off sick with long Covid...

Should that be classed as a (hazardous) work related/caused disability?...


Stay safe folks!
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Warning over sharp increase in Strep A cases across Western Australia, Queensland, NSW and Victoria.

A killer bacteria that has claimed the lives of dozens of children in the UK is now spreading in Australia.

Cases of Strep A, also known as group A Streptococcus, have doubled in Western Australia in the past three months and Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria have all seen a spike in cases too.

The bacteria, which can be found in the throat and skin, can be deadly if left untreated.

Parents are urged to be on the lookout for symptoms like a sore throat, fever, dizziness, headache, and abdominal pain, and to seek medical help immediately upon noticing them.

The illness can be fatal within hours, said Jonathan Carapetis, executive director of Telethon Kids Institute....

There are fears that a deadly bird flu outbreak sweeping the globe is the kind of “spillover event” that could spark a human epidemic.

The largest ever bird flu outbreak is spilling over into mammals, including mink, bears, otters and foxes, as fears grow that the deadly virus could evolve and spark a human pandemic.

The virus, formally known as the avian flu, has killed 208 million birds around the world. There have so far been at least 200 recorded cases in mammals, including grizzly bears in America and mink in Spain, as well as in dolphins and seals.

In the UK, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) tested 66 mammals, and found nine otters and foxes were positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1.

The animals were found to have a mutation of the virus that could make it easier to infect other mammals, but there was no evidence of transmission between them, the BBC reports.

It is believed they had fed on dead or sick wild birds infected with the virus.

But public health bosses warn the mutation in mammals could see the virus replicate, evolve and become more transmissible to humans....

Now that's not good news.

Merck Covid Drug Linked to New Virus Mutations, Study Says.

Merck & Co.’s Covid-19 pill is giving rise to new mutations of the virus in some patients, according to a study that underscores the risk of trying to intentionally alter the pathogen’s genetic code.

Some researchers worry the drug may create more contagious or health-threatening variations of Covid, which has killed more than 6.8 million people globally over the past three years.

Mutations linked to the use of Merck’s pill, Lagevrio, have been identified in viral samples taken from dozens of patients, according to a preprint study from researchers in the US and at the Francis Crick Institute, Imperial College London and other UK institutions.

The drug-linked mutations of the virus haven’t been shown to be more immune-evasive or lethal yet, according to the study published Friday without peer review on the medRxiv website. But their very existence highlights what some scientists say are potential risks in wider use of the drug, which was recently cleared in China.

Lagevrio works by creating mutations in the Covid genome that prevent the virus from replicating in the body, reducing the chances it will cause severe illness. Some scientists had warned before it was authorized in late 2021 that by virtue of how it works, the drug could give rise to mutations that could turn out to be problematic. The preprint paper has reawakened those worries about the Merck drug....

Lagevrio works by creating mutations in the Covid genome that prevent the virus from replicating in the body,

Er... I am frankly amazed that this was approved at all.

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Lagevrio works by creating mutations in the Covid genome that prevent the virus from replicating in the body,

Er... I am frankly amazed that this was approved at all.

There's this old woman who swallowed a spider to catch the fly...

And then there's rabbits and cane toads, and just recently amazin' hulkin' green glowing mutant super-strong kangaroos...


What next?...

Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

We might be onto something.

Aussie scientists have made an incredible find that could explain why some of us get sick and even die from the virus, while the rest of us are fine.

Australian scientists have made an incredible discovery that could change the way we view Covid.

The findings could explain one disease’s biggest mysteries — why some people suffer serious illness with the virus, or even death, while others never get sick or appear symptomless.

University of Sydney researchers discovered a protein in the lung that blocks Covid infection and forms a natural protective barrier in the human body.

The naturally occurring protein, LRRC15, works by attaching itself to the virus, stopping Covid particles from binding with more vulnerable cells - as well as reducing the chance of infection.

The research offers a promising pathway to develop new drugs to prevent Covid or deal with fibrosis in the lungs.

The study led by Professor Greg Neely found that this new receptor acts by binding to the virus and sequestering it which reduces infection.....

Marburg virus kills nine in Equatorial Guinea amid fears hundreds of people are infected.

One of the world’s deadliest diseases has killed nine people in Equatorial Guinea after a fresh outbreak left hundreds infected.

Marburg virus - closely related to ebola - has a mortality rate of 88 per cent and has never been seen in the African nation before.

Hundreds of people are now feared to be infected as the virus spreads, forcing neighbouring countries Cameroon and Gabon to restrict movement across their borders.

All cases have so far been found in Kie-Ntem province, where health agencies are working to control the spread and treat the infected.

Sixteen people are confirmed to have the virus, the World Health Organization said.

The UN health agency said it would hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday.

The Marburg virus is a highly dangerous pathogen that causes severe fever, often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.

It is part of the so-called filovirus family that also includes the Ebola virus, which has wreaked havoc in several previous outbreaks in Africa.

There are currently no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat Marburg, but potential treatments, including blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies, as well as early candidate vaccines are being evaluated, the WHO said....

... consequences:

More people will die or suffer unnecessary consequences from this one:


Some {(about 40%)} ambulance callers to be told go elsewhere
wrote:

A new way of screening ambulance calls is to be introduced across England in an effort to improve response times.

NHS England is asking ambulance crews to review which emergency calls other than those classed as immediately life threatening can be treated elsewhere.

The calls - known as category two - include emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes. But the category also covers some that may not need such a fast response, such as burns and severe headaches.

About 40% of these lower priority calls classed as category two by call handlers will now receive callbacks from a doctor, nurse or paramedic to see whether there is an alternative to sending an ambulance...

... "Pressures in the ambulance service are linked to pressures across the whole system. "We need to focus on reducing high bed occupancy, increasing bed capacity and tackling delayed discharges through increased investment in social care and community services."

We are now into 'games' of 'creative accounting' to game the figures and massage the results?...

And the crisis continues.

What extreme language is needed for our government to wake up and get serious?

Stay healthy folks!!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Bird Flu is spreading and the WHO calls for vigilance.

Father of girl who died from bird flu now has virus.

... consequences:

NHS staff cried in safety interviews, says watchdog
wrote:

... doctors, ambulance dispatchers and other NHS staff in England have faced "significant distress" and harm over the past year as a result of long delays in urgent and emergency care...

... "The bad sides [of my job] give me nightmares, flashbacks and fear, but they can also make me hyperactive, sleepless and sometimes not care about the danger I put myself in," one paramedic told the BBC...

... The HSIB found NHS staff were reporting increased levels of stress, worry and exhaustion because they were not always able to help the sickest patients.

For an interim study, it spoke to doctors, nurses, and other emergency workers, as well as taking evidence from the NHS and other national organisations. It had to change the way it carried out the investigation after hearing the "emotionally charged feelings" of people working in the system...

I can well imagine there are some very highly "emotionally charged feelings" towards certain people in our government and bureaucracy concerning our health service abuse and the abuse of everyone in the health service...

And the crisis continues.

What extreme language is needed for our government to wake up and get serious?

Stay healthy folks!!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Meanwhile:


Dentists could give up NHS work in Wales, group warns
wrote:

... Dentists have described being on the brink of handing back NHS contracts due to stress and concerns about patients' care after changes in Wales...

What unhealthy games are at play?...


Stay healthy folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

I made sure to link to a trusted source... what has been batted around in conspiracy posts for years may have finally gathered some evidence:

Lab Leak Most Likely Caused Pandemic, Energy Dept. Says

WASHINGTON — New intelligence has prompted the Energy Department to conclude that an accidental laboratory leak in China most likely caused the coronavirus pandemic, though U.S. spy agencies remain divided over the origins of the virus, American officials said on Sunday.

The conclusion was a change from the department’s earlier position that it was undecided on how the virus emerged.

Some officials briefed on the intelligence said that it was relatively weak and that the Energy Department’s conclusion was made with “low confidence,” suggesting its level of certainty was not high. While the department shared the information with other agencies, none of them changed their conclusions, officials said.

Officials would not disclose what the intelligence was. But many of the Energy Department’s insights come from its network of national laboratories, some of which conduct biological research, rather than more traditional forms of intelligence like spy networks or communications intercepts.

...

In addition to the Energy Department, the F.B.I. has also concluded, with moderate confidence, that the virus first emerged accidentally from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a Chinese lab that worked on coronaviruses. Four other intelligence agencies and the National Intelligence Council have concluded, with low confidence, that the virus most likely emerged through natural transmission, the director of national intelligence’s office announced in October 2021.

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This will set a whole new shoal of red herrings swimming.

Fair enough, it escaped from a lab - that was always a likely answer. But how did it get INTO the lab?

The conspiracy theorists will say it was created there by human beings - but won't distinguish between a deliberate, malevolent, action and the unexpected outcome of an experiment. The administrators will say it was brought in from the wild. And the researchers won't be allowed to say anything at all.

It certainly will, but I will remain my usual pragmatic self and await the evidence. :^) I always found it interesting that there "happened" to be a major virology lab in the same ground zero city.

In other news, Read the label and ensure erythritol is not on it!

A sugar replacement called erythritol – used to add bulk or sweeten stevia, monkfruit and keto reduced-sugar products – has been linked to blood clotting, stroke, heart attack and death, according to a new study.

“The degree of risk was not modest,” said lead study author Dr. Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.

People with existing risk factors for heart disease, such as diabetes, were twice as likely to experience a heart attack or stroke if they had the highest levels of erythritol in their blood, according to the study, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.

Well I feel much better ignoring the "good" advice to go off sucralose/Splenda in favour of stevia or monkfruit (the former which I find tastes like saccharin... yecch!)

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The real question to ask is did some lab worker screw up wearing protective equipment and infect themselves, then go buy food?

Mmmm...

This latest leak of a story rehashing an old story, and claiming "low probability", and from an unexpected department that is more usually out of the news, and at an opportune time in the world of politics...


My own balance of suspicions is that the story is more of a political piece of propaganda rather than any reality.

This also 'happens' to put all eyes back onto very unhealthy happenings in China...


All a sick game of gaming the news headlines?

Stay healthy folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

“Heightened vigilance” has been urged for all countries after two new deadly virus cases were detected in humans in China.

Two human cases of bird flu have reportedly been detected in China as concerns about the outbreak’s potential threat to the global population grow.

The largest ever bird flu outbreak – caused by the deadly H5N1 strain – is rapidly moving across the planet, and has already spread to hundreds of mammals after killing hundreds of millions of birds worldwide.

It has already been detected in species across Asia, Europe, North and South America and Africa, and last month, an 11-year-old Cambodian girl died from the illness, becoming the nation’s first bird flu fatality in many years.

Despite the tragedy, the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the time stressed that the risk to humans was low – however, it noted it was “worried” about the current outbreak, while some scientists have also publicly expressed concerns that it could start jumping more rapidly from mammals to humans....

Peru reports death of nearly 3,500 sea lions due to H5N1 bird flu.

The National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (Sernanp) announced this week the death of 3,487 South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) in seven natural protected areas of the coast, which represents 3.29% of just over 105,000 of this species that inhabits the entire country.

In addition, the death of 5 fur seals (Artocephalus australis) has been reported, which represents 0.06% of the 8,000 fur seals registered in the natural protected areas of Peru...

It's spreading fast. :-(

This latest leak of a story rehashing an old story, and claiming "low probability", and from an unexpected department that is more usually out of the news, and at an opportune time in the world of politics...

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