Category: News Item

A new study from Public Health Scotland in collaboration with the University of Glasgow and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, published today, investigates a large outbreak of COVID-19 among students resident at university accommodation in Scotland at the start of the autumn 2020 term. It clearly describes the potential for rapid spread of COVID-19 within and between university accommodation.

A total of 1,039 student cases of COVID-19 were identified in this study between September and November 2020, with 50% associated with the student halls. Whole genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, combined with epidemiological information was used to provide a deep insight into this outbreak.

The study estimated that at least 11 independent introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into the student population had occurred, with four leading to large outbreaks, and with a complex picture of transmission within and between student halls. Data strongly indicated that for at least two of the four outbreaks, the virus had been imported from within Scotland, owing to a high proportion of students domiciled within Scotland.

Overall there was a strong indication that the infection spread via social activity and gatherings associated with Freshers’ Week. There was no evidence that the university outbreak had significantly impacted on transmission within the local community.

The higher education setting presents a risk for contributing to the winter burden of COVID-19. With rapid identification, and implementation of non-pharmaceutical control interventions, the impact of outbreaks arising in student halls on local communities may be limited. Public health guidance should consider regional differences in the domicile locations of student populations, and of university accommodation and social structures.

Whole genome sequencing is used to monitor the spread and movement of the virus as well as for detecting and tracking variants of COVID-19. Around 350,000 whole genome sequences have been generated in Scotland for COVID-19 to date, from COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium partner laboratories and Scotland’s NHS sequencing service. This study maximises these data to generate detailed intelligence on outbreaks.

The university outbreak occurred before the rollout of vaccination and the use of lateral flow devices for regular testing. The study highlights a number of findings which are now being used to support plans for students returning to universities at the start of the autumn term.

Dr Alison Smith-Palmer, Senior author of the study and Consultant in Public Health at Public Health Scotland said: 

“Since the start of the pandemic, Public Health Scotland has been using whole genome sequencing to help understand the transmission of the virus in the community and how it spreads in outbreaks, and to manage the risks of new variants or mutations. The data and information we gain through sequencing has played a crucial role in being able to look back at an outbreak such as this. It allows us to investigate it further for public health benefit and to support the overall response to COVID-19, as well as any future outbreaks of different viruses like flu.

Despite the scale at which this particular outbreak grew, it came to a rapid end following the swift action of the University and the local Public Health Protection Team at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, along with an apparent high compliance from the students affected. These actions prevented any further rise in case numbers and also limited any impact on the surrounding community.”

Chris Illingworth, co-senior author and Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow said: 

“This study is a reminder that COVID-19 can spread extremely rapidly: Within a short time of the virus getting into the University more than 1,000 students were infected.  Prompt action to stop the spread of the virus was effective in bringing the outbreak to an end and preventing any long-term impact on the wider Glasgow community.”

Dr Catriona Milosevic, co-author of the study and Consultant in Public Health Medicine, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: 

“COVID-19 has presented us all with huge challenges. This study is a reminder of the impact the pandemic had on university students and staff, as well as adding to our understanding of transmission of infection in these settings. Our job is to assess an outbreak and work with partners to bring it to an end. We are grateful to colleagues at the University of Glasgow, Public Health Scotland and in Environmental Health for the excellent support we received during this outbreak.”

A hundred and twenty-three workers were killed in work-related accidents in Great Britain in the last year, according to figures published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The annual data release covers the period from April 2021 to March 2022, during which time most pandemic restrictions were lifted and the economy began returning to normal.

The industries with the highest deaths were construction (30), agriculture, forestry, and fishing (22), and manufacturing (22); though agriculture, forestry and fishing has the highest rate of fatal injury per 100,000 workers.

The three most common causes of fatal injuries continue to be falling from height (29), being struck by a moving vehicle (23), and being struck by a moving object (18).  

The 123 worker deaths in 2021/22 is lower than the previous year, though it is in line with pre-pandemic figures. There has been a long-term downward trend in the rate of fatal injuries to workers, though in the years prior to the coronavirus pandemic the rate was broadly flat.

A further 80 members of the public were killed following a work-related accident in 2021/22. This is an increase on the previous year but below the pre-pandemic level. This is likely to reflect the various COVID-19 restrictions in place.

The release of the annual figures coincides with the 50^th anniversary this month of the publication of the Robens report. The landmark report led to the Health and Safety at Work Act in 1974, which ultimately led to the HSE being set up the following year.

Since then, Great Britain has become one of the safest places in the world to work with the number of workplace deaths and injuries falling significantly.

HSE’s Chief Executive Sarah Albon said: “While Great Britain is one of the safest countries in the world to work, today’s figures show we must continue to ensure safety remains a priority. Every loss of life is a tragedy, and we are committed to making workplaces safer and holding employers to account for their actions, as part of our mission to protect people and places.”

The figures relate to work-related accidents and do not include deaths arising from occupational diseases or diseases arising from certain occupational exposures (including Covid-19).

The HSE has also published the annual figures for Mesothelioma, which is a cancer that can be caused by past exposure to asbestos. The figures show that 2,544 people died from the disease in 2020. This is in line with the average of 2,523 deaths over the previous eight years. Current mesothelioma deaths reflect exposure to asbestos that mainly occurred before the 1980s and annual deaths are expected to decline during the next decade.

Workplace fatal injuries in Great Britain, 2022 report can be read here. 

The monkeypox outbreak has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization. The classification is the highest alert that the WHO can issue and follows a worldwide upsurge in cases. It came at the end of the second meeting of the WHO’s International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country outbreak of monkeypox

The WHO Director-General Dr Tedros said the emergency committee members had been unable to reach a consensus on whether the monkeypox outbreak should be classified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) for this event.

However, he said after having considered the views of Committee Members and Advisors as well as other factors in line with the International Health Regulations, the Director-General has determined that the multi-country outbreak of monkeypox constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.  

More than 16,000 cases have now been reported from 75 countries and sadly there had been five deaths so far as a result of the outbreak. 

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ stated “…in short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little, and which meets the criteria in the International Health Regulations.

For all of these reasons, I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.

Accordingly, I have made a set of recommendations for four groups of countries:

First, those that have not yet reported a case of monkeypox, or have not reported a case for more than 21 days;

Second, those with recently imported cases of monkeypox and that are experiencing human-to-human transmission.

This includes recommendations to implement a coordinated response to stop transmission and protect vulnerable groups; 

To engage and protect affected communities;

To intensify surveillance and public health measures;

To strengthen clinical management and infection prevention and control in hospitals and clinics;

To accelerate research into the use of vaccines, therapeutics and other tools;

And recommendations on international travel.

The third group of countries is those with transmission of monkeypox between animals and humans;

And the fourth is countries with manufacturing capacity for diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.

My full recommendations are laid out in my statement.

 I thank the Emergency Committee for its deliberations and advice. I know this has not been an easy or straightforward process, and that there are divergent views among the members.

The International Health Regulations remains a vital tool for responding to the international spread of disease.

But this process demonstrates once again that this vital tool needs to be sharpened to make it more effective.

So I’m pleased that alongside the process of negotiating a new international accord on pandemic preparedness and response, WHO’s Member States are also considering targeted amendments to the International Health Regulations, including ways to improve the process for declaring a public health emergency of international concern.

Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern, for the moment this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners.

That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups.

It’s therefore essential that all countries work closely with communities of men who have sex with men, to design and deliver effective information and services, and to adopt measures that protect the health, human rights and dignity of affected communities.”

Read WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ full statement on the press conference following the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country outbreak of monkeypox here.  

A campaign is running this summer to raise awareness of tick bites and the symptoms of Lyme Disease. 

Ticks are tiny spider-like creatures found in woodland and moorland areas. They feed on the blood of birds and mammals, including humans.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected ticks. It’s also known as Lyme borreliosis.

Key symptoms of Lyme disease include a large, reddened skin rash spreading out from the site of a tick bite or flu-like symptoms after being bitten by a tick. Both situations should trigger a call to a GP practice so that the risk of Lyme disease can be assessed and treatment offered.

The symptoms of Lyme disease tend to be mild and, if detected early, respond very well to a course of antibiotics. If early symptoms are missed or ignored it is more likely that longer-term symptoms will develop.

To avoid being bitten by ticks, cover up bare skin with long trousers and long sleeves when in outdoor green spaces. Using insect repellents also helps.

It’s also really important to check for ticks after spending time in outdoor green spaces. 

If you do discover a tick attached to you or someone who you’re with, there’s no need to panic. Removing attached ticks properly and quickly using a specially designed tick removal tool greatly reduces the likelihood that they can pass any bugs on to you. The plastic ones shaped like a little claw hammer (Tick twister) or credit card (Tick card) are generally the easiest to use.

For more information visit NHS inform here. 

Restricting promotions of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt: consulation have been published.

The Scottish Government’s consultation seeks views on restricting the promotion of confectionery, cakes, crisps, savoury snacks and sugary soft drinks at checkouts and front of store, and on multi-buy discounts.

The consultation seeks views on foods that would be subject to restrictions, types of price promotions that would be subject to restrictions and restrictions on the location of targeted foods.

It also seeks views on enforcement and implementation. It is proposed that local authorities (LAs) are given the role of enforcing the proposed policy. LAs remain responsible for enforcing existing food law in the businesses within scope of this policy, the Scottish Government propose that LAs are best placed to support delivery and enforcement of the policy outlined in this consultation paper.

It is proposed that local authorities are given relevant enforcement powers, including powers of entry and powers to obtain information. Similar to food safety legislation, the Scottish Government are considering that local authorities would also have relevant powers for handling non-compliance with legal requirements.

The consultation will help assess what impact the proposed restrictions would have on businesses and public health, including on health inequalities. It will run for 12 weeks to 23 September 2022.

Minister for Public Health Maree Todd said:

“Our diets remain too high in calories, fat, sugar and salt which can have serious consequences for our overall health.

“In Scotland, two out of three adults are overweight or obese, with those living in our poorest areas more likely to be overweight and experience the most harm as a result.

“We know that promotions can encourage over-consumption and impulse buying.

“By restricting the promotion of less healthy food and drink we can better support people to make healthier choices and help create a Scotland where everyone eats well and has a healthy weight.”

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) Head of Nutrition Science and Policy Dr Gillian Purdon said:

“We welcome the launch of the Scottish Government’s consultation on restricting promotions of foods high in fat, salt or sugar.

“FSS supports the introduction of promotional restrictions on these products as part of a suite of recommendations to address the nation’s poor diet. Promotions can encourage us to buy more than we need, and don’t necessarily save us money.

“Evidence shows that a considerable amount of the food and drink we buy is on promotion, and is often skewed towards less healthy choices such as confectionery, sweet biscuits, savoury snacks, cakes, pastries, puddings and sugar containing soft drinks. These foods account for around 20% of calories and fat in our diet, and more than half of our free sugar intake.

“Restricting promotions of these types of foods is one way to support people to make healthier choices.”

 The consultation runs until 23 September and can be found here . 

A new practice development hub for reducing inequalities is now available on the PHS Virtual Learning Environment. Primarily for those in public service roles, it aims to improve skills and day to day working practice so that action can be taken to reduce inequalities.  

Scotland’s public services have a duty to reduce inequalities and help create a society where everyone can thrive.  This resource provides practice improvement support for making services inclusive, strengthening partnership working and community advocacy.

This hub has been designed as a flexible resource where individuals can select sections most relevant to their learning needs and source information about how to integrate actions in their daily work.

 Vicky Bibby, Director of Strategic Planning and Performance, PHS said:

“Understanding the necessity of addressing inequalities in our community is important; having the tools and support to put this into practice is vital.

“We have already launched the Health Inequalities learning hub which raises awareness of the relationship between discrimination, inequalities and health inequalities, a critical first step for building knowledge to enable actions.

“This new resource has been specifically developed to offer practical guidance, methods and frameworks to help those in public service roles reduce inequalities in the services they provide.

“We will continue to build the wider learning development programme, with a view to adding resources that consider inequalities in Procurement and The Workplace.”

View the Breaking barriers to reduce inequalities hub

The public is being invited to have their say on plans to add the number of calories to menus in the out of home food sector including cafes, restaurants and takeaways.

The Out of home sector – mandatory calorie labelling: consultation fulfils a pledge made by the Scottish Government’s in their 2021 Out of Home Action Plan. The Plan builds on the commitments made in the 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan and recommendations made by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) to Scottish Ministers in 2019. 

Mandating calorie labelling at the point of choice is one potential way to support the Out of Home (OOH) sector to make a key contribution in improving our dietary health. In Scotland it is estimated that there are around 41,000 outlets in Scotland that fall within the Out of Home definition.

In setting out this consultation, the Scottish Government have used the expertise of Food Standards Scotland and Public Health Scotland to set questions that will help us establish the benefits, opportunities and impacts of mandating calorie labelling in OOH settings.

The 12-week consultation, which sets out the broad types of food and drink that would be covered, will seek views on how this could apply to:

• food and hospitality businesses, depending on their size
• public sector institutions such as hospitals and prisons
• pre-packed food such as filled sandwiches
• online takeaway menus
• children’s menus

The consultation also welcome views on possible approaches to enforcement. With Local Authorities currently responsible for enforcing existing food law in businesses captured in the scope of the mandatory labelling proposals, it is acknowledged that they will be best placed to support delivery and enforcement of the proposal. 

The consultation responses will inform whether legislation is introduced to make it a legal requirement for calories to be included on menus and forms part of the government’s wider actions to ensure Scotland is a place where we eat well and have a healthy weight, including our aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030. 

Since 6 April, out of home businesses in England with more than 250 employees have to display calories are in meals on their menus, websites, and on delivery platforms.

Public Health Minister Maree Todd said:

“Before the pandemic, people living in Scotland were consuming more and more food and drink out of home or ordering it in. Whether it’s breakfast at a roadside café, grabbing a lunchtime soup and sandwich from a local convenience store or ordering food online from a restaurant, most of us were increasingly buying food outside the home – a trend I expect to resume as we recover from the pandemic.

“Two-thirds of the population living in Scotland is recorded as living with overweight or obesity – a key factor in our plan to address this is calorie labelling. We know that giving people more information, such as the number of calories in meals will enable people to make healthier choices when eating out, or ordering in. This is not novel practice – calories are already required on retail food purchases and calorie labelling for out of home sites is mandated in many other countries.

“Many food companies in Scotland have already taken this significant step voluntarily.  We want to learn from those experiences and I would urge everyone to share their thoughts in this consultation.”

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) Head of Nutrition Science and Policy Dr Gillian Purdon said:

“We welcome the launch of the Scottish Government’s consultation on mandatory calorie labelling for the out of home sector.

“FSS has long proposed the introduction of mandatory calorie labelling as part of a suite of recommendations to address the nation’s poor diet. Alongside the consultation, we published the findings of two reports which highlight that overall, calorie information at point of choice can reduce the amount of calories ordered or consumed.

“With eating out is now an everyday occurrence and nearly a quarter of our calories coming from food and drink purchased outside of home, mandatory calorie labelling is one way to support people to make healthier options.”

On 31 March 2022, the Scottish Government announced the formation of an advisory group that will shape plans for mandatory charges on coffee cups and other single-use disposable beverage containers, work on which had been on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The charge is expected to come into effect during the course of this parliament.

The group will contain representatives from every stage of the supply chain, from manufacturers and distributors through small and large retailers, as well as consumer groups, environmental NGOs, equalities groups and academics.

It is believed charging for single-use cups will help encourage people to make the move to reusable alternatives, as well as supporting the shift towards a more circular economy.

An expert panel on environmental charging and other measures had previously recommended the introduction of a national, mandatory requirement to sell beverages and disposable cups separately, including an initial minimum price of between 20 to 25p per cup.

An estimated 200 million single-use disposable beverage cups are used every year in Scotland, with this figure expected to rise to 310 million by 2025. At present, Zero Waste Scotland estimate that disposable cups generate around 4,000 tonnes of waste each year, with around 40,000 of these cups littered in Scotland every year. Due to their waterproof plastic lining, they can be hard to recycle, resulting in most of them being incinerated or sent to landfill.

As part of recently announced packaging reforms, larger coffee shops, fast food chains and others who sell drinks in disposable paper cups will have to provide a dedicated bin to collect and recycle these from 2024.

Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said:

“Single-use coffee cups are a classic example of the throwaway culture that we are taking action to tackle. 

“Lots of people already carry a reusable cup with them, but hundreds of millions of single-use cups are still being wasted every single year.

“Evidence shows that a small charge on single-use cups can be hugely effective in encouraging people to switch to a reusable alternative.

“I look forward to working with experts representing business, the environment and consumers to take forward this important measure. Alongside Scotland’s deposit return scheme, which will recycle nearly two billion bottles and cans every year, and our action to ban some of the most problematic single-use plastics, this will make a vital contribution to reducing the amount of waste generated in the country.”