Deb Lapthorne

NHS frontline staff forced to ‘plug gaps that should be ‘filled by managers’ Skilled clinical professionals are spending hours each week ‘chasing paperwork, managing rotas or navigating broke administrative systems’ says a new report

NHS staff on the frontline are being forced to plug gaps in services that should be filled by skilled managers and admin staff, according to a new report

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

The public are fed the lie that there is too many managers and admin staff and this is the cause of monetary waste. Thus, the NHS has consistently run on very low numbers of support staff and clinicians waste time doing admin tasks and there is no time for managers to do more than fight fires.

Refining COVID-19 care for immunocompromised patients Since 2022, with the emergence of highly transmissible omicron variants and the relaxation of social distancing measures, protecting individuals who are immunocompromised from SARS-CoV-2 exposure has ...

As COVID-19 continues to pose a substantial health threat to severely immunocompromised individuals, further research is urgently needed to refine treatment strategies and improve outcomes for this vulnerable population. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Are online alcohol marketing restrictions warranted? Alcohol marketing is ubiquitous worldwide. In most countries, alcohol companies self-regulate their marketing, a practice promoted by industry1 but considered ineffective in most circumstances.2

Are online alcohol marketing restrictions warranted

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Yes
Next question

If not for yourself then at least for the children (and parents) you share air with.

Put on a mask.

Clean the air.

Please.

This positions the trial as an experimental medicine study capable of uncovering LongCOVID disease mechanisms associated with virus-targeting treatment.

A clinical trial of repurposed HIV antivirals in LongCOVID - PolyBio Research Foundation Project Summary:  A clinical trial to test if two repurposed HIV antivirals (Truvada and Maraviroc) can reduce symptom burden in patients with...

Project Summary:

A clinical trial to test if 2 repurposed HIV antivirals (Truvada & Maraviroc) can reduce symptom burden in patients with LongCOVID. Truvada, Maraviroc, or a placebo will be given to participants randomized to 1 of 3 groups to take for 90 days.

polybio.org/projects/a-c...

Covid and Flu Can Triple Your Risk of Heart Attack

New York Times: 'Covid and Flu Can Triple Your Risk of Heart Attack'

“It endorses a general idea..that infections are generally not benign,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a senior clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/w...

Defaulting to surgical masks in health care settings in 2025 is one of the most dissapointing examples of reluctance to change despite overwhelming evidence.

Even defaulting to KN95 style would significantly increase protection of the most vulnerable.

Infuriating inertia in the HC industry.

#MasksWork.
But sometimes humans don't.

NOW we're getting somewhere.
😷🤒💨

The post shows a tweet from journalist Taylor Lorenz responding to a tweet by David Moscrop. Moscrop mentions getting his annual flu and COVID shots, noting it should reduce illness and transmission. Lorenz replies, emphasizing that current COVID vaccines do not significantly prevent infection or transmission, warning that some vaccinated people may take more risks believing they’re fully protected. She adds that vaccines help prevent severe outcomes and death, but urges people to wear masks to stop infecting others.

Exactly this — vaccines help prevent hospitalisation and death, but they don’t stop infection or transmission. That’s why masking is still so important. 😷

Source: x.com/TaylorLorenz...

Weird because I could have sworn the NYT told us we shouldn't worry about these viruses and should just get back to brunch

The study still shows ventilation is an important measure particularly where people are in shared spaces for long periods of time. It also highlights the need for more data on virus distribution by aerosol size. Exp show there’s more in smaller sizes, but it’s hard to measure the medium sizes 7/

The effect of the ventilation rate on exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in a room with mixing ventilation Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, guidance was to increase ventilation as a way to reduce the risk of transmission. While the benefits of ventilation,…

Our CFD study modelling the complexity of ventilation on respiratory viral exposure is out today. This shows that while ventilation is undisputed as important, the short term and local effects can be less predictable 1/ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

It's early and I'm only halfway through my coffee so here's a salty take: Spotify should stop doing videos and get back to focusing on audio.

Bonus hot take: video podcasts are bad. There's a reason the phrase 'a face for radio' exists.

Not everything needs to be video.

👇🏻 our new paper on updated evidence for respiratory virus vaccines

Detection of Anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 Mucosal Immunoglobulin A in Clinical Saliva Samples After a Dose of Novavax COVID‐19 Vaccine Immunoglobulin (Ig) A acts as a first line of defense against respiratory pathogens. Mucosal IgA in salivary and nasal passages has a rapid response to antigens and can play a protective role against...

Detection of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Mucosal Immunoglobulin A in Clinical Saliva Samples After a Dose of Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine

The effect of Metformin on post Covid disease risk. academic.oup.com/cid/advance-...

⚡Please watch this powerful, emotive & furious speech by Violet Affleck at #UNGA80

She rightly states that for children there has been a neglect of the highest order, even though we have the tech

"Our present is being stolen in front of our eyes"

👉Clean Air is a human right

13 million clinically vulnerable people have no NHS vaccine access this Winter. We urgently need masks in healthcare.
#Covidisairborne.

Please consider voting in the poll 🙏

Long COVID linked to heavier periods and symptom flare-ups during menstruation Researchers found that long COVID is linked to heavier, longer, and more irregular bleeding without disrupting ovulation. Symptom severity also peaks around menstruation, likely driven by hormonal and immune changes.

'Long COVID linked to heavier periods and symptom flare-ups during menstruation'

'New evidence shows long COVID may intensify bleeding and trigger phase-specific symptom surges, revealing hidden hormonal and immune disruptions in the menstrual cycle'

www.news-medical.net/news/2025091...

We have a fight on our hands to keep vaccines in the UK. So please start by signing up to help the 13 million vulnerable who have had these cut. If we don’t start being loudly vocal then the US is our future and its incoming fast.

Some of the efficiency plans are quite ambitious. e.g. DHSC expects to make 1.5% effieciency savings every year, compared to 0.6% per year productivity growth 95/96 to 18/19. The plans also have a lot of gaps. e.g. how exactly will they reduce sickness absence rates and improve retention?

Enabling Vaccine Uptake: Strategies for the Public Health Sector | British Journal of Hospital Medicine Safe and effective vaccines have been instrumental in controlling and mitigating some of the most contagious and devastating diseases throughout history, ranging from smallpox, polio and diphtheria to...

Our review on strategies to help enhance vaccine uptake is FINALLY published- great work from students Becky, Jas, Kirsty and a collaboration with the incredible @eberlmat.bsky.social
@lydiabeckeriii.bsky.social @britsocimm.bsky.social

Rising Cost of Long COVID and ME/CFS Die steigenden Kosten von Long COVID und ME/CFS in DeutschlandEin neuer Bericht von Risklayer und der ME/CFS Research Foundation modelliert e

The costs of ME and longcovid. A report from Germany of the costs associated with the two illnesses.

mecfs-research.org/en/costrepor...

Long COVID cost Germany 32 bln Euros last year | Context by TRF Long COVID is costing billions of dollars in lost productivity and increased health and welfare costs so why is there so little funding for research?

'Long COVID cost Germany 32 bln Euros last year – why we must act now'

'Long COVID is costing billions of dollars in lost productivity and increased health and welfare costs so why is there so little funding for research?'

www.context.news/socioeconomi...

Why now? The measles controversy We read with great interest the recent Editorial published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases,1 which forcefully calls attention to the troubling global resurgence of measles, a long-preventable diseas...

Why now, the measles controversy. A vaccine preventable disease and its resurgence.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Letting COVID rip has resulted in significant health, economic and policy failures. whn.global/scientific/t...

Petition: Introduce new air quality and PPE rules for health and social care settings We want the Government to set new rules on air quality and infection control in health and social care settings, to prevent and control airborne infections, with new ventilation and filtration require...

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...
Thank you so much to everyone supporting the petition today. We still have a long way to go to reach 10k. Please keep RT. 🙏