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Health

CDC recommends COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as 5

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The CDC issued formal recommendations Tuesday for children as young as 5 years old to get vaccinated against COVID-19, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for younger kids to start receiving Pfizer’s vaccine this week. 

“Together, with science leading the charge, we have taken another important step forward in our nation’s fight against the virus that causes COVID-19,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.  “We know millions of parents are eager to get their children vaccinated and with this decision, we now have recommended that about 28 million children receive a COVID-19 vaccine.”

President Biden called it “a turning point in our battle against COVID-19.” “It will allow parents to end months of anxious worrying about their kids, and reduce the extent to which children spread the virus to others,” he said in a statement.

The White House says millions of vials of Pfizer’s lower-dose vaccine formulated for younger children have already begun shipping to health care providers following the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization last week. 

The decision follows a day-long meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which voted unanimously to recommend the shots for younger children. 

“We all have a responsibility to make this vaccine available to children and to their parents. We have excellent evidence of efficacy and safety. We have a favorable benefit-risk analysis. And we have many parents out there who really are clamoring and want to have their children vaccinated,” Dr. Beth Bell, one of the panel’s members, said ahead of the vote.

At 10 micrograms — a third of the 30 microgram dose given to adolescents and adults — Pfizer’s vaccine for kids highly effective at triggering antibodies to the virus in clinical trials and more than 90% effective at blocking symptomatic disease. 

If younger children are vaccinated at a similar rate as adolescents, CDC modeling suggests some 600,000 cases of the disease could be prevented through March.

“Projections showed that vaccination among 5- through 11-year-olds is expected to accelerate the decline in cases we’re currently experiencing, reducing the cumulative incidence expected by 8%,” the CDC’s Dr. Sara Oliver told the committee.

The Delta variant led to record surges in COVID-19 hospitalizations among younger children this year, the agency’s data suggests, despite around 38% of kids potentially having antibodies from surviving a prior infection. 

Thousands of children aged 5 to 11 years old have been hospitalized for COVID-19 and 172 have died. Though they are at a far lower risk of severe COVID-19 than adults, many have also faced long-term side effects or complications of the disease.

Much of the panel’s discussion focused on weighing the benefits of the vaccine against the potential risk of rare cases of myocarditis, a heart inflammation side effect. 

“It’s a very important thing to recognize that the very low risk of myocarditis with vaccination pales in comparison to the very high risk for severe heart disease related to COVID and MIS-C,” Dr. Matthew Harris of Cohen Children’s Medical Center told CBS News.

Overall, Pfizer’s clinical trial data suggests younger children will experience fewer side effects than adolescents or young adults. Side effects that did occur, such as fever or redness around where the shot was given, “were mostly mild to moderate, and short lived.”

While the exact rate of myocarditis after the vaccine in 5- to 11-year-old children remains unknown, it is rare enough that zero cases turned up in the clinical trial. The CDC’s advisers concluded the risk was “likely lower” in younger children than adolescents.

At the request of regulators, Pfizer had looked for safety concerns and side effects in around 3,100 children 5 to 11 who received the 10 microgram doses. That trial is “at the upper end or even beyond” the size typically used to license other vaccines for children, the FDA’s Dr. Doran Fink told the committee.

“You can add that to the extensive experience that we’ve had to date with the vaccine in older age groups as well,” Fink said.


Strategies to lower kids’ vaccine pain

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For parents on the fence about the shots, health officials are planning an extensive outreach campaign to help educate parents and boost confidence in the vaccine. 

A CDC survey found concerns over side effects ranked among the top reasons for parents saying they would not “definitely get” their child vaccinated.

“Our communications experts have done a fantastic job of laying out a plan to make sure we’re communicating to key populations, including parents, obviously, but also our providers so that they can then amplify the appropriate messages, and then our partners as well, including health departments, and academics,” the CDC’s Dr. Kevin Chatham-Stephens told the committee.

Providers and health officials have also been preparing for weeks to meet a potential surge in demand from parents already eager to have their children vaccinated, with up to 15 million doses being shipped out over the next week.

Over half (57%) of parents surveyed by the CDC said they would “definitely” or “probably” get their child vaccinated, officials told the committee. Most parents said they were hoping to get their 5- to 11-year-old child vaccinated at their regular doctor’s office or clinic. 

Once the rollout begins, parents will be able to find a vaccination site near them on the website vaccines.gov. The vaccinations for children will be free.

Vaccinators have undergone new training for handling and preparing Pfizer’s new kid-sized doses. Jurisdictions and providers have been updating their IT systems to prepare for scheduling and tracking the new shots.

“Logistically where the vaccine is going has already been mapped out for the first week, and those providers who are receiving the vaccine are approved and enrolled providers. They should have already completed the training and are familiar with the vaccine packaging and know how to handle it,” says Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers.

CDC officials told the panel that many jurisdictions anticipate pediatricians will likely handle most vaccinations for younger children, more than temporary mass vaccination sites or clinics set up at schools.

“Doing all of this behind-the-scenes work has been going on for months,” Hannan says.

Alexander Tin

CBS News reporter covering public health and the pandemic.

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Health

It Turns Out Exercise Isn’t as Likely to Ruin Your Knees as You Think

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Photo: Roslan Rahman/AFP (Getty Images)

For those interested in exercising more but worried about their knees, a new study from researchers in the UK this week might offer some reassurance. The research, a review of existing evidence, found no link between exercise and a greater risk of knee osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis to plague the joint.

Arthritis is another name for joint inflammation. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition in which the cartilage protecting a joint slowly wears down over time, leaving the joint vulnerable to injury and swelling. About 32.5 million Americans have some form of osteoarthritis, though its symptoms vary depending on how far it’s progressed. Those with mild to moderate osteoarthritis may experience some occasional joint pain and stiffness that can be managed with over-the-counter painkillers and home remedies, while those with severe osteoarthritis can experience debilitating pain and disability that can only be helped with surgeries like a knee replacement.

Age is the largest risk factor for osteoarthritis, along with others like sex (women report it more often), genetics, and weight, since it can put more stress on the knees. Physically stressful jobs that require lots of heavy lifting and knee-bending have been linked to osteoarthritis as well. It’s less clear whether physical activity outside of work can cause or worsen knee osteoarthritis, though it’s certainly a common fear that exercises like running will eventually ruin your knees.

The authors of this new paper, published Wednesday in Arthritis & Rheumatology, looked at data from six earlier studies tracking a combined 5,065 participants over the age of 45 for about five to 12 years, all of whom did not have diagnosed knee osteoarthritis at the start of the study. This kind of research is known as a meta-analysis, but the authors went one step further than most studies do, by first collecting the raw patient data from each study and then re-analyzing it all at once. These “individual patient-level data” meta-analyses are more time-consuming and expensive to conduct but are generally considered more reliable as a result, since they can better account for the many differences across studies.

Ultimately, the authors found no significant link between the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis and either the amount of exercise done regularly or the time spent exercising.

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“Knowing that the amount of physical activity and time spent doing it is not associated with the development of knee osteoarthritis is important evidence for both clinicians and the public who may need to consider this when prescribing physical activity for health,” said co-lead author Thomas Perry, a researcher with the University of Oxford in the UK, in a statement from Wiley, the publishers of the journal.

Other research has cast doubt on the idea that specific types of exercise, particularly running, will inevitably doom your knees, and regular runners may have a smaller risk than average (that’s not to say that some forms of knee pain aren’t more common for them). For those who already have osteoarthritis, stretching and strengthening exercises can even help relieve symptoms, and too much inactivity can do more harm than good by causing stiffness.

The studies do rely on self-reported exercise levels, so they are subject to some bias. And the researchers weren’t able to look at the impact of individual exercises on the knee. So it’s possible there may be a link between specific forms of exercise and knee osteoarthritis, either good or bad, or with exercise among people who are already susceptible to knee problems because of preexisting injuries. The authors say that more research is needed to tease out these interactions—ideally by relying on objective measurements of physical activity.

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How long does natural immunity keep you safe from COVID?

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A new study from scientists in the United Kingdom said COVID-19 antibodies from natural infection can keep you safe from the coronavirus for at least 10 months.

How long does natural immunity last?

The study — published in the medical journal Nature Microbiology — reviewed blood samples from people who were infected in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

  • The researchers found the antibodies were able to fight off infection lived for 10 months after symptoms.

The U.K. scientists suggested that a large number of antibodies can be detected months after infection. Here’s how the researchers explained it in the study:

  • “Initial concerns were that the SARS-CoV-2 antibody response might mimic that of other human endemic coronaviruses, such as 229E, for which antibody responses are short-lived and re-infections occur,” the team wrote in the paper.
  • “However, our data and that of other recent studies show that although neutralizing antibody titres decline from an initial peak response, robust neutralizing activity against both pseudotyped viral particles and infectious virus can still be detected in a large proportion of convalescent sera at up to 10 months POS.”

Does natural immunity stop more COVID-19 infections?

There have been a number of questions about how well natural immunity can keep you safe from COVID-19. A recent study — which comes from the Yale School of Public Health — found that unvaccinated people with natural immunity might catch COVID-19 once every 16 months, an indication that the virus may continue to spread among those who natural immunity.

  • “Our results are based on average times of waning immunity across multiple infected individuals,” Hayley Hassler, a co-author of the study, told Yale Daily News. “Any one of those individuals may experience longer or shorter durations of immunity depending on immune status, cross-immunity, age, and multiple other factors.”

Is the COVID-19 vaccine better than natural immunity?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently revealed in a new report that immunity from the COVID-19 vaccine is more consistent than natural immunity. But, natural immunity can last for at least six months after infection.

  • “The CDC’s bottom line: Given what’s known and not known about immunity, people who have been infected with the virus should still get vaccinated,” according to The Washington Post.

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Health

In final step, CDC director signs off on Pfizer vaccine for kids 5 and up

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Another 28 million Americans are able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 after the CDC officially recommended the Pfizer shot for 5- to 11-year-olds on Tuesday night.

“Together, with science leading the charge, we have taken another important step forward in our nation’s fight against the virus that causes COVID-19. We know millions of parents are eager to get their children vaccinated and with this decision, we now have recommended that about 28 million children receive a COVID-19 vaccine,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.

A committee of independent experts advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend the Pfizer vaccine for children 5-11, checking off one of the last boxes in the authorization process, and Walensky’s final recommendation Tuesday night capped off the process.

Shots can be administered immediately, but are not expected to kick into high-gear until Nov. 8, when the White House says Pfizer’s pediatric vaccines will be more widely accessible across the nation.

About 15 million doses are expected to ship out over the next week. The majority, about 10 million, will be available at pediatrician’s offices, children’s hospitals, community centers and mass vaccination sites. About 5 million doses will go to pharmacies.

In a statement, President Joe Biden said: “It will allow parents to end months of anxious worrying about their kids, and reduce the extent to which children spread the virus to others. It is a major step forward for our nation in our fight to defeat the virus.”

Many parents are anxious to protect their children after the delta surge over the summer led to increased cases and hospitalizations among kids. Though the variant is not more deadlier, it is more transmissible — and because kids are unvaccinated, the variant rocketed through schools and camps.

The most recent data from Pfizer’s clinical trials found that the vaccine for children ages 5-11 was nearly 91% effective against symptomatic illness.

For kids, the vaccine will be given at a smaller, one-third dose.

The vaccine also appears safe. The company says none of the children in clinical trials experienced a rare heart inflammation side effect known as myocarditis, which has been associated with the mRNA vaccines in very rare cases, mostly among young men.

The CDC’s expert on myocarditis, Dr. Matt Oster, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, said unequivocally at Tuesday’s meeting that he believes the benefits of the vaccine for 5-11 year-olds outweighs the potential risks of vaccine-related myocarditis.

“The bottom line is getting COVID I think is much riskier to the heart than getting this vaccine, no matter what age or sex you have,” Oster told the committee.

Meanwhile, the risks of not getting vaccinated loom far larger than the rare and mostly mild vaccine side effects seen in some adolescents, CDC’s Dr. Sarah Oliver said.

For every million pediatric vaccinations, more than 18,500 COVID cases and 80 hospitalizations could be prevented, Oliver estimated, using a model based on cases throughout the pandemic so far. If cases returned to the peak seen during the delta variant, over 58,200 COVID cases and over 220 hospitalizations could be prevented.

“There could also be possible prevention of transmission and a greater confidence in a safer return to school and social interactions,” Oliver said. “Wide use of an effective vaccine would reduce the public health burden of COVID in children five through 11 years of age.”

Other CDC committee members agreed.

“I think the data supports that we have one more vaccine that saves lives of children and that we should be very confident to employ it to the maximum,” said Dr. Sarah Long, a member of the CDC’s committee and professor of pediatrics at Drexel University.

The authorization process began last week, when a panel of experts at the Food and Drug Administration reviewed all of the efficacy and safety data and then voted nearly unanimously to authorize the vaccine. On Friday, the vaccine was authorized by FDA acting commissioner Janet Woodcock, which allowed the process to move over to the CDC for the final steps before shots could be administered.

Whether parents will embrace the vaccine for their kids is still a question. In an October poll, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that about a third of parents with kids ages 5-11 were willing to vaccinate their kids right away, while another third wanted to “wait and see.” The figures represented a slight uptick in vaccine acceptance among parents of elementary-school-aged kids since July, but they have stayed steady since September.

Woodcock told reporters on Friday that she hoped parents would quickly see the benefits.

“We certainly hope that as people see children getting vaccinated and being protected, being able to participate in activities without concern, that more and more people will get their kids vaccinated,” she said.

And she emphasized the urgency of preventing the conditions that can come with COVID diagnoses in kids.

“As a parent, if I had young children this age group I would get them vaccinated now. I would not want to take the risk that they would be one of the ones who would develop long COVID, who would develop multi-system inflammatory syndrome or have to be hospitalized from from the virus,” Woodcock said.

ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

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Health

Sexually transmitted infections rising in Long Beach

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LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — In two weeks, Long Beach will have an AIDS walk on Nov. 14.

The goal is to raise money so that multiple centers and hospitals can help provide free HIV, STD and STI testing.

This is important to the Long Beach community because statistics show that there is an increase in sexually transmitted infections, or STIs.

Long Beach has historically had some of the highest rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections in California.

The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services puts out a surveillance report every year with data.

The last report was for 2019, but came out June of 2021 because officials were focused on the pandemic.

“We saw in 2019, increases of syphilis and high but stable rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea,” said Emily Johnson, HIV and STI surveillance program specialist for the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services.

From 2015 to 2019 in Long Beach, chlamydia increased by 12%, gonorrhea by 59%, and congenital syphilis by 613%.

Congenital syphilis is when a mother with syphilis passes the infection on to her baby during pregnancy.

Johnson says women of color are being affected by syphilis more recently.

“From what we hear from our patients when we interview them, there’s a lack of healthcare access around these women in the community. There’s a lack of transportation, people may not be able to take time off of work and there’s also a history of medical mistrust, which I think is our job as health care providers to kind of tackle those barriers,” said Johnson.

STIs can increase your risk of becoming infected with HIV.

Anyone is susceptible to STIs, and resources are available if you need them.

“There’s been a lot of people coming in without insurance because of losing their jobs, so we are one of the few clinics that offer free testing as well as free treatment,” said Jess Nuñez, who works at the LGBTQ Center in Long Beach.

STI, STD and HIV data can be found on the longbeach.gov website. The 2020 annual report for long beach is in the works.

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Governor Lamont and Public Health Commissioner Juthani Announce COVID-19 Vaccines Now Available to Children Ages 5 to 11

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Press Releases

11/02/2021

Governor Lamont and Public Health Commissioner Juthani Announce COVID-19 Vaccines Now Available to Children Ages 5 to 11

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont and Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani today announced that COVID-19 vaccines are now available to be administered in Connecticut to children ages 5 through 11. The availability of the vaccines for this age group follows the recent recommendations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With this announcement, nearly all of Connecticut’s school-aged children are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This roll-out is a critical tool to help keep children in school and protect not just children themselves, but also their parents, family members, teachers, and school staff. It is estimated that about 277,630 children between ages 5 and 11 live in Connecticut.

Children and families have multiple, convenient options for where to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Connecticut, including:

  • Pediatricians: Hundreds of pediatricians are administering COVID-19 vaccines in Connecticut. However, not all pediatricians have the vaccine. If a pediatrician does not offer the vaccine, refer to one of the additional options.
  • Pharmacies: Hundreds of pharmacies are offering the COVID-19 vaccines to children, including many CVS, Walgreens, RiteAid, and other pharmacy chains and independent pharmacies across Connecticut. Pharmacies provide a safe and convenient location to receive a vaccine. Pharmacies have provided special training for their pharmacist staff to provide vaccines for younger children.
  • School-based clinics: The Connecticut Department of Public Health and Connecticut State Department of Education are collaborating to offer on-site clinics at schools across the state. These will be led either by school-based health centers or special mobile teams who are specifically trained to offer vaccines for younger children. Information about such clinics will be provided by individual schools or districts.
  • Other locations: In addition to the above, several health systems and local health departments will be offering COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11.

For more information on where children and adults can get COVID-19 vaccines in Connecticut, including a search tool to find the closest available locations, visit ct.gov/covidvaccine.

“It is particularly significant that COVID-19 vaccines are available to children ages 5 to 11 because now nearly everyone will have access to this life-saving tool,” Governor Lamont said. “Keeping students in school has been one of my biggest priorities, and having vaccines available for more kids is an important component of this effort. I have heard from all of my public health advisors, and they are clear in their guidance – this vaccine is safe for kids and it works. I’m asking all Connecticut residents to help us continue to be a national leader in vaccines and get your children vaccinated against COVID-19 at your earliest convenience.”

“The data is clear – the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 through 11,” Commissioner Juthani said. “We have a fantastic network of providers – including pediatricians, pharmacies, school-based clinics, and local health departments – who are ready to administer this vaccine to children across Connecticut. I encourage parents and families to protect their children and themselves.”

Dr. Jody Terranova, who serves on the executive board of the Connecticut chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and is also the organization’s immunization representative, said, “For months, pediatric practices have been offering vaccines to children ages 12 and older, and it has been such a source of relief and safety for these kids and their families. I am delighted that the COVID-19 vaccine is now available for a much broader cohort of our children. Although kids often have milder cases of COVID-19 than adults, they still do get sick – and some children are currently battling long COVID as well. Getting this vaccine is the right thing to do to keep our kids and families safe.”

Twitter: @GovNedLamont
Facebook: Office of Governor Ned Lamont



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Vermont to open Covid-19 vaccine registration to young children Wednesday morning

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Covid-19 vaccination appointments for Vermont children ages 5 to 11 are scheduled to open Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., according to a press release from Gov. Phil Scott’s office.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized the Pfizer vaccine for young children Tuesday evening. That decision followed a daylong meeting by the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds last week.

In a statement Tuesday evening, Scott called the CDC’s approval “an enormous step forward and a significant opportunity for parents and caregivers to help their kids and communities.”

“Vaccinating Vermont’s youth will have a significant impact on our efforts to move past this pandemic, and we need parents to take advantage of this safe, free and effective way to protect their children,” he said.

Earlier Tuesday, Scott said appointment registration in Vermont would begin the morning after the federal authorization was finalized. 

Appointments for school-based and state-run clinics can be made Wednesday morning at healthvermont.gov/KidsVaccine or by calling 855-722-7878. Families may need to add their child as a dependent in the registration system, according to Tuesday night’s announcement.

The vaccine authorized for young children is a smaller, more diluted dose than the vaccine for those 12 and older, meaning only certain clinics will have the necessary supplies to administer shots to 5- to 11-year-olds. Those locations will be indicated in the registration system.

Parents are encouraged to book appointments in advance, but some walk-in appointments may be available, said Mike Smith, secretary of the Agency of Human Services.

Smith said the state is also planning to hold 96 school-based clinics across a six-week period with the goal to get as many shots in arms as possible before the holidays.

More options are expected to become available in the coming weeks. Doses should be available at most pediatricians’ offices by mid-November, according to Rebecca Bell, president of the Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Shots will also be available through pharmacies, Bell said. Availability and scheduling procedures may vary depending on the store and location.

Vermont officials expect the state will receive 6,000 pediatric doses by the end of Tuesday and a total of more than 23,000 doses for children by the end of the week, according to Tuesday’s announcement.

Nearly 16,000 of the doses will go to state-run clinics with the rest allocated to pharmacies and health care partners. More are expected to become available after that.

About 44,000 Vermont children are newly eligible. 

Officials said Tuesday that while they unequivocally recommend that parents get their young children vaccinated, they recognize that some people may have questions. Those parents are encouraged to reach out to their pediatricians or doctors to learn more about the vaccine.

The Vermont pediatrics academy is also holding virtual forums with local pediatricians about Covid-19 vaccines for children. Events will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. via Zoom on the following dates:

  • Monday, Nov. 8, with Leah Costello, M.D. (South Burlington) — Click here for Zoom link
  • Wednesday, Nov. 10, with Elizabeth Richards, M.D. (Brattleboro) — Click here for Zoom link
  • Tuesday, Nov. 16, with Josh Kantrowitz, M.D. (St. Johnsbury) — Click here for Zoom link
  • Thursday, Nov. 18, with Ashley Miller, M.D. (South Royalton) — Click here for Zoom link
  • Monday, Nov. 22, with Colleen Moran, M.D. (Lamoille County) — Click here for Zoom link

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Almost a third of people wait three months before seeking help for pancreatic cancer, poll shows

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The deadly cancer signs patients are ignoring: Almost a third of people wait three months before seeking help for symptoms of pancreatic disease, poll shows

  • A ‘worrying’ number of people hold off seeking any help for pancreatic cancer 
  • A poll revealed that 28 per cent of people wait three months before seeking help 
  • Charity Pancreatic Cancer UK warned ‘there is no time to wait’ with the disease

By Xantha Leatham For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:










A ‘worrying’ number of people put off seeking help for one of the most deadly cancers, a charity has warned.

Pancreatic Cancer UK said that anyone with common symptoms of the disease – including back pain, indigestion, stomach pain and weight loss – should see a GP if issues persist for more than four weeks.

Anyone with jaundice – yellowing of the skin or eyes – should go to A&E immediately, it added.

More than 10,000 people are diagnosed with the disease in the UK each year but early detection gives people better odds of survival

A poll has revealed that 28 per cent of people wait three months before seeking help, while 22 per cent said that they would not feel confident recognising jaundice.

The survey of 2,000 adults, by Savanta ComRes on behalf of the charity, also found that 31 per cent would delay seeking help for longer than usual due to the pandemic.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, partly due to the fact that symptoms are vague.

About four in five people with the disease are diagnosed when the cancer is at a late stage and they have missed out on the chance of life-saving treatment.

Diana Jupp, chief executive of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: ‘There is no time to wait with pancreatic cancer.

The charity urged that anyone with jaundice – yellowing of the skin or eyes – should go to A&E immediately

‘Thousands of people a year are told it’s too late, that nothing can be done for them. It is vital that people are diagnosed as early as possible to give them the best chance of having life-saving treatment.’

Dame Cally Palmer, the NHS’s national cancer director, said the NHS was ‘open and ready’ to treat people.

‘Cancer referrals and diagnosis are back to pre-pandemic levels, please don’t delay and come forward to get yourself checked,’ she added.

WHAT IS PANCREATIC CANCER?

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal forms of the disease, and around 95 per cent of people who contract it die from it.  

Joan Crawford, Patrick Swayze and Luciano Pavarotti all died of pancreatic cancer.

It is the sixth most common cause of cancer death in the UK – around 10,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year in the UK, alongside about 55,000 in the US.

WHAT IS THE CAUSE?

It is caused by the abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells in the pancreas – a large gland in the digestive system.

WHO HAS THE HIGHEST RISK?

Most cases (90 per cent) are in people over the age of 55.

Around half of all new cases occur in people aged 75 or older.

One in 10 cases are attributed to genetics.

Other possible causes include age, smoking and other health conditions, including diabetes.

WHY IS IT SO LETHAL?

There is no screening method for pancreatic cancer. 

Pancreatic cancer typically does not show symptoms in the early stages, when it would be more manageable. 

Sufferers tend to start developing the tell-tale signs – jaundice and abdominal pain – around stage 3 or 4, when it has likely already spread to other organs.    

WHAT ARE THE TREATMENT OPTIONS? 

The only effective treatment is removal of the pancreas. 

This proves largely ineffective for those whose cancer has spread to other organs. 

In those cases, palliative care is advised to ease their pain at the end of their life.  

Half of those with the disease die within three months of diagnosis, Pancreatic Cancer UK said.

More than 10,000 people are diagnosed with the disease in the UK each year.

But early detection gives people better odds of survival so the charity is urging the public to seek care if they have any symptoms.

Experts say they are ‘extremely concerned’ with the findings of the poll, and is urging people to find out more about the disease.

GPs who suspect pancreatic cancer can refer patients for an ultrasound, CT or MRI scans.

However nearly half of all pancreatic cancer patients are currently diagnosed via an emergency, such as a visit to A&E.

The impact can be significant – one-year survival rates for patients diagnosed through a GP referral is three times higher.

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Women under 35 face higher risk of breast cancer spreading – study | Breast cancer

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Women diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 35 face a higher risk of it spreading, according to the first global study of its kind.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer, with 2.3 million people diagnosed every year. Survival rates are generally good, which is largely because of screening, early diagnosis and improved treatment.

However, until now, little has been known about the risk of secondary breast cancer, where the disease spreads to other parts of the body and becomes incurable.

A meta analysis of more than 400 studies has found the risk of breast cancer spreading to another part of the body ranges from 6% to 22%. The results of the study are being presented at the sixth International Consensus Conference for Advanced Breast Cancer .

The findings also suggest certain women face a higher risk, including those diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 35, those with larger tumours when initially diagnosed and those with specific types of the disease, for example luminal B.

Kotryna Temcinaite, senior research communications manager at the charity Breast Cancer Now, said the analysis “provides helpful insight into who is most at risk”.

“About 1,000 women in the UK die each month from incurable secondary breast cancer,” she said. “We desperately need to learn more about this devastating disease so that we can find new ways to improve treatment, care and support for people living with it, and for those living in fear of a diagnosis.

“The data shows that people diagnosed with primary breast cancer aged 35 years or younger have the greatest chance of developing secondary breast cancer. The study also highlights that the size of the tumour, the type of breast cancer and the length of time since primary diagnosis can impact a person’s risk.

“Secondary breast cancer can develop many years after an initial cancer diagnosis, so it’s vital that we understand it better and find new ways to prevent it.”

For the study, researchers analysed data on tens of thousands of women across more than 400 studies from North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

The analysis suggests the overall risk of metastasis for most breast cancer patients is between 6% and 22%. Researchers say the range is broad because the risk varies significantly depending on a whole range of different factors.

For example, women first diagnosed under the age of 35 have a 12.7% to 38% risk of their breast cancer coming back and spreading to other parts of the body, while women aged 50 years or older have a risk of 3.7% to 28.6%.

“This may be because younger women have a more aggressive form of breast cancer or because they are being diagnosed at a later stage,” said the presenter of the study, Dr Eileen Morgan, of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

“Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the world,” she said. “Most women are diagnosed when their cancer is confined to the breast or has only spread to nearby tissue. But in some women, the cancer will grow and spread to other parts of the body or come back in a different part of the body several years after the end of their initial treatment.

“At this point the cancer becomes much harder to treat and the risk of dying is higher. However, we don’t really know how many people develop metastatic breast cancer because cancer registries have not been routinely collecting this data.”

The study also found women with specific types of breast cancer appeared to have a higher risk of it spreading, for example those with a type of cancer called luminal B.

Those with this form had a 4.2% to 35.5% risk of it spreading compared with 2.3% to 11.8% risk in women diagnosed with luminal A cancer.

Dr Shani Paluch-Shimon, a member of the conference’s scientific committee and director of the breast unit at Hadassah University hospital in Israel, who was not involved with the research, said the findings were “vital” for patients and doctors.

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Health

A Common Bacteria Is Killing More Babies Than We Knew

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Photo: Martin Bureau/AFP (Getty Images)

Researchers in the UK and affiliated with the World Health Organization are sounding the alarm over a common bacteria that can seriously harm pregnant people and their babies. In a new report released this week, the group estimates that infections caused by group B streptococcus were linked to 46,000 stillbirths, 91,000 newborn deaths, and over a half-million premature births worldwide last year. The numbers are dire enough that the WHO and partners are calling for a maternal vaccine to prevent the bacterial disease.

Group B streptococcus, or Group B strep, are round bacteria that typically cluster together into single-line chains. Though there are seven broad groups of streptococcus bacteria, there’s only one known species of bacteria belonging to group B, called Streptococcus agalactiae. These bacteria are routinely found in the guts and vaginas of up to a third of humans (as well as some animals), and it usually doesn’t cause illness.

During pregnancy, however, the bacteria can migrate to other parts of the body, like the urinary tract. It can also be passed down to a fetus in the womb or to a newborn during delivery or the first weeks of life. Urinary tract infections in the parent can raise the risk of premature delivery, while infections of the placenta and amniotic fluid raise the risk of premature deliveries, stillbirths, newborn deaths, and congenital defects. In infected newborns, the bacteria can cause sepsis, a widespread inflammation that overwhelms the body and can quickly turn fatal.

The infection has long been known as a common cause of newborn sepsis. But in 2017, researchers with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the WHO, and others made the first attempt to quantify its global harms. They estimated that about 150,000 stillbirths and newborn deaths a year could be attributed to Group B strep. This new report, helmed by the same groups, is the first to gauge the toll of premature births, which not only raise the risk of newborn death but also long-term complications like stunted development and congenital defects.

All told, they estimated that about 20 million pregnant people in 2020 were colonized with Group B strep, putting them at risk for a serious infection. The estimates for stillbirths and newborn births in 2020 were about the same as they were in 2017. But they now estimate that these infections contributed to 518,000 premature births in 2020. The bacteria infected almost 400,000 newborns, and about 40,000 infants were estimated to be left with neurological impairment as a result of infection. Though the bacteria is found everywhere, pregnant people and their children in low- to middle-income countries were the most likely to be harmed by the infection, particularly in Africa.

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“This new research shows that Group B strep is a major and underappreciated threat to newborn survival and wellbeing, bringing devastating impacts for so many families globally,” said Phillipp Lambach, medical officer with the WHO’s Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals department, in a statement from the WHO announcing the report.

Pregnant people who test positive for Group B strep are now given prophylactic antibiotics to prevent newborn transmission. But the experts note that antibiotics aren’t able to prevent most cases of stillbirth and premature delivery associated with the infection, nor are they without side effects.

The most promising long-term solution to Group B strep, the report authors say, is a vaccine that can be given to people early in pregnancy. They estimate that an effective vaccine provided to even 70% of pregnant people would prevent about 50,000 deaths and over 170,000 preterm births a year. Depending on the cost of a vaccine, it would also likely save money down the road, they add. But while there are several experimental vaccine candidates in the research pipeline, efforts have been unfruitful for decades at this point.

“Maternal vaccination could save the lives of hundreds of thousands of babies in the years to come, yet 30 years since this was first proposed, the world has not delivered a vaccine. Now is the time to act to protect the world’s most vulnerable citizens with a GBS vaccine,” said Joy Lawn, director of the Maternal Adolescent Reproductive & Child Health Center at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, in the WHO statement.

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