Health blogs from the UK Health Security Agency
How are we tracking mpox in the UK?
Surveillance is the ability to identify potential threats as quickly as possible and share the resulting data widely. It is one of the tools in our defence against infections like mpox. We...
How cutting-edge AI technology could hold the key to forecasting the pollen count
Pinaceae (pine) pollen On the roof of a UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) lab, at Chilton’s Harwell Science Campus in Oxfordshire, a new chapter in artificial intelligence (AI) and pollen...
Mpox clade 1: what you need to know
Credit: CDC/ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) This blog post will be updated regularly as more information emerges. The World Health Organization (WHO)...
How to stay healthy while wild swimming
Swimming is a great form of exercise we can all enjoy, and there are hundreds of beautiful wild swimming sites across the UK to explore. This blog post has essential tips and advice if...
Who’s eligible for the 2024 COVID-19 vaccine, or ‘Autumn Booster’?
As we move into autumn, protection from any earlier COVID-19 vaccination you may have had will be starting to wane. For those who are more likely to become seriously ill from COVID-19, the...
How Heat-Health Alerts contribute to keeping the vulnerable safe this summer
The sun is shining and most of us will be happy to see the arrival of warmer and drier weather after the wet and cool summer we have had so far. This week’s higher temperatures have...
How you can help us resist the tiger mosquito’s conquest of Europe
Tiger mosquito sitting on the table of an outdoor café (image generated by AI) As our world becomes increasingly interconnected and the climate changes, the UK faces challenges that we...
What is RSV and is there a vaccine?
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major respiratory virus that is common over the winter period, typically November to February. While the symptoms are mild for many, RSV accounts for...
Whooping cough: my daughter spent the third week of life in an induced coma
Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection that mainly affects the lungs and airways. The whooping cough vaccine is given as part of...
From measles to malaria, how to keep you and your family healthy on holiday
Dr Shreya Singhal is a junior doctor working in West London, as well as being a keen backpacker. She has worked in Infectious Diseases and General Practice and shares her top tips for...
I was a GP on the frontline of a whooping cough epidemic. Here is what I saw.
Doug Jenkinson was a Midlands GP for 37 years, during which time he made a special study of whooping cough and documented over 700 cases. The thing about whooping cough is that anyone can...
What is cryptosporidium, and how can you avoid it in the water or on the farm?
Cryptosporidium parvum protozoa positive (red sphere shape) in human poo smear Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite that can cause an unpleasant – and sometimes dangerous – illness...