New flu strain putting severe pressure on healthcare across Europe, says WHO
An intense surge in flu cases driven by a newly dominant virus strain is sweeping across Europe, placing healthcare systems in several countries under severe pressure, the World Health Organization has said.The WHO said on Wednesday that at least 27 of the 38 countries in its European region were reporting “high or very high influenza activity”, with more than half of patients with flu-like symptoms testing positive in six countries including Ireland, Serbia, Slovenia and the UK.It said the flu season had begun roughly four weeks earlier than in previous years and urged populations to curb transmission by getting vaccinated, staying home if unwell, and wearing a mask in public if they had respiratory symptoms.The WHO said the new seasonal flu variant – A(H3N2) sub-clade K – was driving the infections, accounting for up to 90% of all confirmed flu cases in the European region, but added that there was no evidence it was causing more severe disease.Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, said: “Flu comes around every winter, but this year is a little different.
It shows how just a small genetic variation in the flu virus can place enormous pressure on our health systems.”Kluge also stressed the danger of misinformation and disinformation.“It’s vital in the current climate to seek credible information from trusted sources like national health agencies and the WHO,” he said.“In a challenging flu season, trustworthy, evidence-based information can be lifesaving.”The WHO said early data from the UK confirmed that the flu vaccine lowered the risk of severe illness from the A(H3N2) strain, although it may not prevent infection, and said vaccination remained the single most important preventive step.
“This is especially important for those at higher risk, including older persons, those with underlying conditions, pregnant women and children,” it said.Health workers were also a priority group to protect their own health and that of their patients.“As in other seasons, school-age children are the primary drivers of community spread,” it added.“However, adults aged 65 and older constitute the majority of severe cases requiring hospitalisation.”Kluge said the flu season was expected to peak in late December or early January.
“The current flu season, though serious, does not represent the level of global emergency we faced during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said, adding: “Our health systems have decades of experience managing influenza, we have safe vaccines that are updated annually, and we have a clear playbook of protective measures that work.”Britain’s NHS said last week it was bracing for one of its worst winters on record amid mounting pressure on GP surgeries, hospitals and ambulance services.The Robert Koch Institute in Germany said the country’s flu season had started two to three weeks early.France’s national public health agency, Santé publique, said flu activity was “increasing strongly” in metropolitan France, with cases rising in all age groups and the number of people seeking treatment at hospital emergency departments rising.In Spain, infection rates were already higher than last year’s winter peak and hospitalisations had doubled in a week, while Romania and Hungary were also experiencing strong surges in cases.
BMA accused of hypocrisy as its own staff threaten to strike over pay
The British Medical Association is facing a strike over pay by its own clerical staff, prompting calls of hypocrisy as NHS resident doctors in England launch five days of strike action with the union’s backing.Talks between the BMA and the GMB union failed to come to a resolution on Tuesday, raising the prospect of a strike by clerical and administrative staff at the health union in the new year, sources said.It is understood that GMB, which represents 75% of the internal staff at the BMA, are “getting ballot ready”, in reference to the prospect of getting backing for a strike.The BMA said it was facing “extremely challenging financial constraints” but offering above market rates of pay.As it sought to talk down the demands of its own staff on Tuesday, a second team of negotiators also failed to reach terms with the health secretary, Wes Streeting, over the demands of resident doctor members
Ex-Labour metro mayor and Your Party organiser Jamie Driscoll joins Greens
Jamie Driscoll, the former Labour metro mayor for North of Tyne who later played a role setting up Your Party, has joined the Greens, the party has announced.It comes two days after five Labour councillors in the north London borough of Brent defected to the Greens, saying they were disillusioned about the party’s direction under Keir Starmer.Driscoll, a former Newcastle councillor who served as mayor from 2019 to 2024, left Labour in 2023 after the party blocked him from running again. He stood as an independent, coming second to Labour’s Kim McGuinness.Driscoll was later involved in efforts to set up a new leftwing party in association with the former Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, which eventually became Your Party
Nigel Farage told to apologise by 26 of his school contemporaries
Nigel Farage has been told to apologise for his alleged teenage racism by 26 school contemporaries who have written an open letter telling of their “dismay and anger” at his response in recent weeks.In a united challenge to the Reform UK leader, the alleged victims and witnesses condemn him for what they describe as his refusal to acknowledge his behaviour at Dulwich college.They also criticise him for saying their allegations about his past behaviour are politically motivated.“The accusation … is false,” the letter states.They call for Farage, who has denied “directly” targeting anyone with racist or antisemitic abuse or having “intent” to hurt anyone, to publicly recognise the events described
George Osborne joins OpenAI: ex-chancellor adds tech post to his CV
The former UK chancellor George Osborne is joining OpenAI to lead the ChatGPT developer’s relationships with governments around the world.He will head a division known internally as OpenAI for Countries, through which the San Francisco artificial intelligence startup works with governments on national-level AI rollouts.The former Conservative politician will add the role to his growing portfolio of positions which include: chair of the British Museum; adviser to the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase; and host of a podcast with the former Labour minister Ed Balls.Osborne is moving on from his role as senior managing director at Evercore, which acquired the investment bank Robey Warshaw in July where he was partner, and will be based in London rather than Silicon Valley.His hiring by OpenAI is the latest sign the big US tech firms are becoming increasingly focused on boosting AI adoption by national governments
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Far from costing British lives, as Aditya Chakrabortty suggests (What will be the cost of Keir Starmer’s new medicines deal with Donald Trump? British lives, 11 December), the UK-US medicines agreement is designed to support NHS patients by improving access to new and innovative treatments.The agreement raises the baseline threshold used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to assess the cost-effectiveness for new medicines, enabling more treatments to be considered for NHS use.It does not retrospectively increase the price of existing branded medicines. It also caps repayment rates for newer medicines at no more than 15% from 2026 to 2028, replacing an unpredictable system that has hampered investment and patient access to cutting-edge treatments.The UK has fallen behind international competitors in both life sciences investment and access to innovative medicines
Ministers ‘break word’ on protecting nature after weakening biodiversity planning rule
The government has broken its promise to protect nature by weakening planning rules for housing developers, groups have said.While developers once had to create “biodiversity net gain” (BNG), meaning creating 10% more space for nature on site than there was before the building took place, the housing minister Matthew Pennycook announced exemptions to this rule on Tuesday.Under the new rules developments under 0.2 hectares are exempted from the policy. Analysis from the Wildlife Trusts has found that this means a combined area across England the size of Windsor forest will now not be restored for nature
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