Latest news with #RonCook
Daily Record
28-04-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
'Horrific' illness spreading with symptoms that last up to six weeks
Many Scots are reporting suffering with a grim bug, with symptoms said to last as long as six weeks in some cases. Many are unsure as to what they are dealing with - having received negative Covid test results. Taking to Reddit to see if others are suffering, one user wrote: "Touching two weeks now that I've had this brutal chesty cough that just won't budge and makes it near impossible to get a decent night's kip cos every time I lie down, I just turn into a coughy machine antibiotics barely did a thing. Considering new lungs at this stage." [sic] A second shared their experience, adding that they "still don't have my full energy back for exercise" even two weeks after their illness came about. A third said: "Tested and tested and never got a positive Covid like a mad cold/flu hybrid. Honestly horrific." A fourth said: "Caught whatever is going round 6 weeks ago. Think this is me finally coming out the other side. It's been murder!" And a fifth claimed their partner "cracked two ribs with all the coughing". Symptoms vary from person to person with many listing the following: Dr Ron Cook, NHS 24's medical director told the Daily Record: "As we enter the spring season, it is not uncommon for respiratory illnesses such as coughs, colds, and flu still to be circulating. These can be bothersome and impact on your day-to-day life, but some relatively simple steps can help ease symptoms. 'Our advice for coping with these seasonal illnesses includes ensuring you have enough rest, are staying well-hydrated, and using over-the-counter remedies – your local pharmacy can give your guidance on the most appropriate medicine to use. It is also important to maintain good hygiene practices, such as frequent hand washing and using tissues when coughing or sneezing, to prevent the spread of infection. 'For more detailed advice is a valuable resource which has lots more information on how to safely self-manage illnesses such as these, and also when you should seek further advice.' According to Public Health Scotland : "Last summer in Scotland, there were more than 10,000 reported cases of COVID-19 and over 4,000 people hospitalised. This year's spring vaccination programme is focused on protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19. "This includes older adults in care homes, people aged 75 and over, and those with a weakened immune system, as they are at greater risk of illness from COVID-19. "If you're invited for a COVID-19 vaccination this spring, it's because experts know that your age or health condition mean you're at higher risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19. Dr Sam Ghebrehewet, Head of Immunisation and Vaccination at NHS, said: "Being vaccinated is the safest and most effective way for older people and those with certain underlying conditions to protect themselves against COVID-19. 'You get your strongest protection from the vaccine in the first three months after getting it. Over time, this protection gradually fades so, even if you had your winter vaccination, it's important to get another dose this spring to reinforce your immunity and help keep you safe. 'Getting vaccinated could mean the difference between a mild illness and a hospital stay.' The spring vaccination programme runs from March 31 until 30 June. If you're eligible, you'll be invited by letter, email or text message, depending on your selected communication preference. You can reschedule your appointment using the online portal or via the National Vaccination Helpline (0800 030 8013).
The Guardian
12-03-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
CDC expects measles outbreak in west Texas to ‘expand rapidly'
Texas doctors say they are worried about measles spreading to population centers in an outbreak the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expects to 'expand rapidly'. Two people have died, including a child, and at least 208 people have been sickened across west Texas and New Mexico after an outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease took hold in rural Gaines county. 'It is worrisome,' said Dr Ron Cook, a family medicine specialist in Lubbock who serves as the county's health authority. 'Lubbock is the largest medical center, shopping center, etcetera between Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Dallas-Fort Worth', and a place many from west Texas visit. Residents of west Texas 'come here to shop at the big box stores – Walmart, Costco, Sam's and so forth,' said Cook, adding that Lubbock hospitals have already treated 38 measles patients from the outbreak. The deaths are the first from measles in nearly a decade – and come as a test for the Trump administration's new health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, a longtime critic of vaccines. Cook described an outbreak curve, familiar to those who watched infections rise and fall during the Covid-19 pandemic, that is still on the 'incline'. His concerns are shared by other local physicians, such as Dr Philip Huang, director of the Dallas county's department of health and human services, who told local CBS news affiliate: 'There's concern that some of the people in west Texas are going to spread across the country. It's not slowing down. This is not over, and there will be more cases.' Cook said people also travel for maternity and pediatric care. He worries that the immunocompromised and babies could be exposed to measles in doctor's waiting rooms. 'I personally don't think I anticipated this, although I'm not surprised,' said Dr Tammy Camp, pediatric residency coordinator with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, also in Lubbock. When fewer people vaccinate, she said, 'you always know you're ripe for the possibility of an outbreak'. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine. Doctors often use the example of a room full of people to illustrate this: if 10 unvaccinated individuals enter and one has measles, nine leave infected. The CDC expects the outbreak to continue spreading and potentially worsen with the upcoming spring and summer travel season. Although measles was once a common childhood disease, it is not without risks and general misery. The most common symptoms include a characteristic top-down rash, fever, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Severe symptoms are less common but can be devastating: about one in a thousand infected children suffer severe brain swelling, called encephalitis, a condition that can lead to seizures, deafness and intellectual disability. Between one and three out of a thousand will die. Additionally, scientists believe that measles infection can make people more vulnerable to secondary infections for months because it suppresses the immune system. Very rare conditions can also strike: about one in 25,000 children, or the equivalent of about four each year, suffer a degenerative neurological condition called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. The disease presents years after infection with dementia-like symptoms that are eventually fatal. The measles vaccine is 97% effective at preventing the disease. The vaccine's side effects, while uncomfortable, are typically transient, and include fever and rash. Rarer side effects, such as febrile seizure, are nearly 10 times less common than children dying from measles infection, according to studies cited by the CDC. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'Any child dying for a pediatrician is difficult, it's tough,' said Camp, about how her residents have reacted to treating children with a largely avoidable disease. 'Watching them have difficulty breathing, watching them have a rash, seeing them feel very irritable and fussy – and knowing it could be prevented – is hard and disheartening.' The overwhelming majority of Americans still vaccinate their children, and many are calling Camp to vaccinate early, she said. The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is recommended for children ages 12 to 15 months old. However, measles is so infectious that vaccination coverage lower than 95% can allow its spread. That can make a place like Lubbock vulnerable, even when it is not the center of the outbreak. The risk has been particularly acute since the pandemic, when more children missed routine vaccinations due to clinic and school closures, and anti-vaccine activists have gained significant political power, enjoying more donations during the pandemic. RFK Jr, once the nation's foremost vaccine critic, has responded to the Texas measles outbreak by downplaying the virus's dangers and the vaccine's efficacy, framing vaccination as a personal choice, and recommending good nutrition and vitamins. 'Then there's the rhetoric about vitamin A and cod liver oil,' said Cook, who argues that it's unhelpful to compare alternative treatments not tested in the US with a vaccine so effective it once helped eliminate measles in the US. Camp noted that, to some degree, 'vaccines are the victim of their own success'. 'When you have people who have never seen the disease,' she said, 'it becomes easier to become fearful of the vaccine.'
