Tag: deadly
Urgent warning amid fears kids could pass deadly Strep A onto vulnerable grandparents as they gather for Christmas
A MEDICAL expert has warned vulnerable grandparents to be vigilant as the deadly spread of Strep A looms large this Christmas.
The death toll of children who have died with the illness has hit 16 – and statistics show the elderly are not immune.
Elderly people could be at risk of getting Strep A from their grandchildren over Christmas[/caption]
Group A Streptococcus is a common bacteria[/caption]
The latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency show among those over 75 there have been 140 cases of invasive Group A Strep.
Of that group, 23 have died as a result of an infection.
Group A Streptococcus is a bacteria commonly found on the skin or in the throat.
In very rare cases, it can become invasive and enter parts of the body where bacteria are not normally found, which can be life-threatening.
University of East Anglia medicine professor Paul Hunter told the Daily Mail that while the most common victims are children, it is crucial to remember Group A Strep can kill the elderly too.
He said: “Christmas is a time when older people and their grandchildren come together and mix.
“So families with elderly and vulnerable grandparents should think about the risk from Strep A, particularly if there is a child who has a sore throat right before Christmas, and perhaps rethink their plans.
“The risk is not huge but it’s one to be aware of, and older people should make sure they have their flu jabs.”
Most read in The Sun
Common symptoms from the infection are a sore throat, scarlet fever or skin rash.
However, the infection is starting to spread rampantly among UK communities, with 169 children under 15 contracting invasive Strep A.
There have been 13 confirmed deaths in England, one in Northern Ireland and one in Wales, just this winter.
Yesterday a pupil in Hove, East Sussex, also died of a suspected invasive Strep A infection, bringing the total to 16.
The alarming number has parents worried, and as a result GP practices and some pharmacies are becoming inundated and are running out of antibiotics.
The shortage of supply has prompted senior doctors to issue a reassurance that it is ‘common and treatable’.
The heads of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal
College of Emergency Medicine and Royal College of General Practitioners said in a joint statement: “We’d like to reassure parents and carers that this specific infection is common and treatable.
“The UKHSA are monitoring the situation closely and healthcare
professionals are on high alert.”
While strep throat is common among children, it is treatable[/caption]
San Francisco police seek permission for its robots to use deadly force
The San Francisco Police Department is currently petitioning the city’s Board of Supervisors for permission to deploy robots to kill suspects that law enforcement deems a sufficient threat that the “risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option available to SFPD.” The draft policy, which was written by the SFPD itself, also seeks to exclude “hundreds of assault rifles from its inventory of military-style weapons and for not include personnel costs in the price of its weapons,” according to a report from Mission Local.
As Mission Local notes, this proposal has already seen significant opposition from both within and without the Board. Supervisor Aaron Peskin, initially pushed back against the use of force requirements, inserting “Robots shall not be used as a Use of Force against any person,” into the policy language. The SFPD removed that wording in a subsequent draft, which I as a lifelong San Francisco resident did not know was something that they could just do. The three-member Rules Committee, which Peskin chairs, then unanimously approved that draft and advanced it to the full Board of Supervisors for a vote on November 29th. Peskin excused his decision by claiming that “there could be scenarios where deployment of lethal force was the only option.”
The police force currently maintains a dozen fully-functional remote-controlled robots, which are typically used for area inspections and bomb disposal. However, as the Dallas PD showed in 2016, they make excellent bomb delivery platforms as well. Bomb disposal units are often equipped with blank shotgun shells used to forcibly disrupt an explosive device’s internal workings, though there is nothing stopping police from using live rounds if they needed, as Oakland police recently acknowledged to that city’s civilian oversight board.
While San Francisco has never explicitly allowed for robots to take human lives, lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs), are increasingly common in modern warfare. Anti-personnel mines, one of the earliest iterations of automated weaponry, have been banned since 1997 (but tell that to the mines already in the ground) and fully automated defenses like shipboard Phalanx systems have been in use since the 1970s. Autonomous offensive systems, such as UAVs and combat drones, have been used for years but have always required a “human in the loop” to bear the responsibility of actually firing the weapons. Now, the SFPD — the same department that regularly costs the city six-figure settlements for its excessive use of force and actively opposes investigations into its affinity for baton-based beatings — wants to wield that same life-and-death power over San Francisco’s civilians.
Doctors Treated a Deadly Genetic Disease Before Birth for the First Time
A team of doctors in the U.S. and Canada are reporting a medical first. They were able to start treating a child’s rare and often deadly genetic condition while she was still a fetus in the womb—the same condition that claimed the lives of her siblings. Now 16 months old, the child, named Ayla, appears to be…
Deadly missing king cobra ‘Houdini’ is finally found after 6 days – only to escape again
Horror at public toilets as second most deadly land snake found inside cubicle
You have the eyes of a hawk if you can spot the deadly snake in the trees
YOU have the eyes of a hawk if you can spot the deadly snake hidden in the trees.
The sneaky serpent blends in with the shrubs and trees as it makes its way to find some prey.
Can you spot the sneaky snake hiding among the bushes?[/caption]
Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers uploaded this head-scratching optical illusion and asked Facebook followers to spot the cunning critter.
“Spot the Snake Sunday is Back! Everyones favourite and sometimes frustrating game is back and ready for you to have a go. I think this one is pretty easy…” the Aussie snake watchers posted.
“You’re kidding right?” one user quipped.
“Can’t find it so it must be a invisible snake,” joked a second.
READ MORE ON OPTICAL ILLUSIONS
But look a little closer and you’ll find the deadly animal nestled in a tree branch in the top left corner of the picture.
Meanwhile, readers were told they had loser-focused eyesight if they could spot a slippery serpent camouflaged on a forest floor.
The cunning copperhead had social media users scratching their heads after they were left baffled by the brainteaser.
The image shows a seemingly innocent build-up of fallen beige leaves on the woodland floor.
Most read in The Sun
But the ordinary-looking image has proved a stark warning for nature lovers to watch every step they take when exploring.
The deadly snake proved it was a master of disguise by completely concealing itself among the undergrowth.
The pic had some people worried about their vision as they were unable to locate it after a number of minutes.
The majority of social media users admitted they had to look in the comment section to discover where the snake was lurking.
One Reddit user joked: “Well either nothing is there or I’m dead from stepping on it.”
Another wrote: “I’ve seen this image posted before, knew exactly what to look for and vaguely where I needed to look for it…. still took over a minute of searching before I found it.”
And a third chimed in: “I had to scan the whole damn picture as if looking at a prep under a microscope. Only then.”
But other eagle-eyed users claimed to have conquered the brain teaser.
One commented: “Center of photo, just below middle. Copperhead snake.
“Who is so scared that he both blends seamlessly into the forest floor and has deadly defense mechanisms.”
A second user said: “Directly in the middle, you should see a triangle pattern that slightly stands out.
“It’s small but noticeable once you know the pattern and slightly lighter color.”
Copperheads unsurprisingly get their quirky name from their bronze-hued heads and can grow up to four feet in length.
The species can administer an extremely painful bite but it is almost never fatal to humans.
They give no warning signs and strike almost immediately if they feel threatened.
Read More on The Sun
They have hemotoxic venom, which means that a copperhead bite results in temporary tissue damage in the immediate area of the bite.
Copperhead snakes are the most common type of snake throughout the United States.
Facebook users went mad trying to find the slippery serpent[/caption]
Hair straighteners ‘could significantly increase’ risk of deadly cancer, says new study
UK to donate anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine after fresh wave of deadly strikes
Signs of deadly brain disease can be seen 9 years before diagnosis – are you at risk?
DEMENTIA signs start nine years before a doctor can spot it, according to a study.
People who get Alzheimer’s disease start flunking memory and thinking tests nearly a decade before a diagnosis.
Around one million Brits have dementia and it is the UK’s biggest cause of death[/caption]
Cambridge University experts say early hallmarks could be used to screen people and start treatment earlier.
Lead author Dr Nol Swaddiwudhipong said: “When we looked back at patients’ histories, it became clear that they were showing some cognitive impairment several years before their symptoms became obvious enough to prompt a diagnosis.
“The impairments were often subtle, but across a number of aspects of cognition.
“This is a step towards us being able to screen people who are at greatest risk.”
Read more on dementia
The study, published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, used data from half a million Brits aged 40 to 69.
Scientists looked at health data and scores on tests of reaction time, memory, problem solving and grip strength.
People with below average results were more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal dementia in the next nine years.
Brain diseases, including Parkinson’s, were also more common in people with worse overall health or who had recently had a fall.
Most read in Health
Almost one million Brits have dementia and it is the leading cause of death in the UK.
Patients do not usually get diagnosed until their symptoms affect daily life.
There is no treatment but experts hope drug trials will be more successful if the condition can be caught earlier.
Senior author on the study, Dr Tim Rittman, added: “People should not be unduly worried if, for example, they are not good at recalling numbers.
Read More on The Sun
“Even some healthy individuals will naturally score better or worse than their peers.
“We would encourage anyone who has any concerns or notices that their memory is getting worse to speak to their GP.”