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Londra Gazete, 27 October 2022 LondraGazete.com/English 9

Flu season may have arrived

early, health officials warn

THE flu season appears to have
arrived early, experts have said,
as they urged people to get a flu
jab.
Monitoring by the UK Health
Security Agency (UKHSA) sug-
gests cases of flu have risen ac-
ross England, with more calls to
NHS 111 and a slight rise in pe-
ople seeking help from their GP
for flu-like symptoms.
The UKHSA has urged everyone
eligible to get a flu vaccine, saying
Put on a stone increases odds of Covid restrictions over the past
two winters means people have
knee op by a third, study claims little natural immunity.
The latest data suggests hospi-
PEOPLE who put on just under a dicines. tal and intensive admissions for season. y-age children, who will be offe-
stone in weight in midlife are signi- The researchers said that guideli- the respiratory disease are rising “We’re urging parents in parti- red the nasal spray.
ficantly more likely to need a knee nes recommend weight loss to ma- quickest in children under five, cular not to be caught out as ra- Those eligible for the flu jab
replacement, a new study has found. nage knee osteoarthritis but not though overall flu levels are still are: people aged 50 and over; tho-
Women who put 11lb (5kg) are specifically recommend preventing at a relatively low level, meaning tes of hospitalisations and ICU se aged six months to 49 with a
a third (34%) more likely to need a weight gain in the first place. it is difficult to predict how big admissions are currently rising specified health condition; secon-
total knee replacement while men They analysed 20 previous studies the wave will be. fastest in children under five. dary school-aged children focu-
have 25% increased odds. which included hundreds of thou- This year’s flu jab is a good “This will be a concern for many sing on Years 7, 8 and 9 with any
The new study, which is to be pre- sands of participants. match for the type of seasonal parents and carers of young child- remaining vaccine offered to Ye-
sented at the International Congress Overall weight gain appeared to flu (H3N2) that is circulating this ren, and we urge them to take up ars 10 and 11; primary school-a-
on Obesity in Melbourne, Australia, have a significant detrimental effect year. the offer of vaccination for eligib- ged children; pregnant women;
found that relatively small weight on pain, stiffness, function, quality Dr Mary Ramsay, director of le children as soon as possible.” those in care homes, frontline
increases can increase a person’s of life and on changes to the joint vi- public health programmes at the Around 33 million people in health and social care staff; ca-
chances of knee osteoarthritis, the sible in X-rays. UKHSA, said: “Our latest data England are eligible for a free flu rers and the household contacts
most common cause of knee pain, Weight gain was also linked to shows early signs of the threat vaccine this year, including all of people with weakened immune
and the need for a knee replacement. more damage to cartilage, bone and we expected to face from flu this primary-age and some secondar- systems.
Osteoarthritis is a condition that other parts of the joint.
causes joints to become painful and Looking specifically at two studies
stiff. It is the most common type of involving more than 250,000 parti-
arthritis in the UK. There is no cure weight gain significantly increased Research finds DNA variants linked
cipants, the authors concluded that
but there are a number of ways pe-
ople can relieve symptoms including the odds of having a total knee rep-
lifestyle changes and pain relief me- lacement operation. to dyslexia in first study of its kind

SCIENTISTS have for the first ciated with other neurodevel-
Pregnant women offered free vapes time pinpointed a large number opment conditions, such as lan- ics journal, helps them better un-
derstand the biology behind why
of genes that are reliably associ- guage delay, and with thinking some children struggle to read or
PREGNANT women will be more likely to smoke in pregnan- ated with dyslexia. skills and academic achievement. spell. They said many of the genes
handed free vapes by a south cy. Dyslexia is known to run in Many, however, are novel and associated with dyslexia are also
London council to stop them ‘We are now planning to sup- families – partly because of ge- could represent genes that more linked with attention deficit hy-
spending money on cigarettes. port the use of e-cigarettes for netic factors – but until now, lit- specifically associate with pro- peractivity disorder (ADHD).
Lambeth Council hopes its ‘stop women who choose that route as tle was known about the specific cesses essential for learning to And a much smaller overlap of
smoking’ service will save parents their preferred aid for quitting genes that relate to the risk of it read. the genes associated with dyslex-
around £2,000 a year. tobacco, since this is less harmful developing. The researchers say their find- ia was found for psychiatric, life-
A council spokesperson told the compared to smoking.’ ings, published in Nature Genet- style and health conditions.
The team behind this latest re-
BBC: ‘Smoking during pregnancy They added that they acknowl- search claim it is the largest ge-
is the leading risk factor for poor edge it is best pregnant smokers netic study of dyslexia to date.
birth outcomes, including still- completely stop using nicotine. The study, led by the University
birth, miscarriage and pre-term But that e-cigarettes are there to
birth help them become smoke-free if of Edinburgh, involved more than
‘Data shows that women from this is difficult. 50,000 adults who have been di-
low income households are much agnosed with the learning diffi-
According to the NHS website, culty and more than one million
little research has been carried adults who have not.
out into the safety of e-cigarettes Researchers tested the relation-
during pregnancy. ship between millions of genetic
Its guidance states: “It is not variants with dyslexia status and
known whether the vapour is found 42 significant variants.
harmful to a baby in pregnancy. About one third of these vari-
“If you’re pregnant, licensed ants have been previously linked
NRT products such as patches to general cognitive ability and
and gum are the recommended educational attainment.
option to help you stop smoking.” Some of them have been asso-