Over three quarters of acute NHS trusts in England (77%) do not have a child weight management service, despite being responsible for providing specialist services for the most severely obese, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Bristol and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The number of daily contacts changed over the course of 2020, following the first lockdown, corresponding to alterations in the COVID-19 guidance, suggests a study among staff and students at the University of Bristol. The research led by scientists at the University of Bristol is published on the pre-print server medRxiv.org.
Middle ear infections, known medically as acute otitis media (AOM), are common painful infections in children, for which there are up to three million treatment episodes in England and Wales each year. They are often treated with antibiotics by mouth. However, these can cause side effects like rashes, diarrhoea and vomiting, and their over-use contributes to the growing global health threat of antibiotic resistance. Researchers from the Universities of Bristol, Southampton, King’s College London and Imperial College London, are collaborating on a new study to investigate alternative treatments, which they hope will reduce unnecessary oral antibiotic use, while relieving painful symptoms and reducing healthcare costs.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR Bristol BRC) has been awarded nearly £12 million of new funding for the next five years. The funding has been awarded to University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust by the NIHR, with the University of Bristol a major partner.
Doctors and nurses often prescribe antibiotics for children with cough and respiratory infection to avoid return visits, symptoms getting worse or hospitalisation. In a study published in the British Journal of General Practice today [Tuesday 11 September], researchers from the Universities of Bristol, Southampton, Oxford and Kings College London found little evidence that antibiotics reduce the risk of children with cough ending up in hospital, suggesting that this is an area in which unnecessary antibiotic prescribing could be reduced.
Injecting drug use, through the sharing of needles, syringes and other injecting equipment, is a primary route of transmission for both HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), blood-borne infections that cause considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. New research led by the University of Bristol has found among people who inject drugs, that recent incarceration was associated with an 81 per cent and 62 per cent increase in HIV and HCV acquisition risk, respectively.
Boosting physical activity levels and curbing sitting time are highly likely to lower breast cancer risk, finds research designed to strengthen proof of causation. The study led by Cancer Council Victoria in Australia, and including the Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences, is published online today [6 September] in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
New vending machines offering free sexual health testing kits have been launched in four venues across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire by Unity Sexual Health, the sexual health service led by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.
A team of leading University of Bristol researchers on hot topics, ranging from climate change policy to adapting to a warming world and ensuring the transition to a net zero economy is fair, are poised to join the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Good Grief's first mini-festival – exploring 'Grief + Memory'- will take place next week [Friday 28 and Saturday 29 October] with a number of live and on-demand virtual events.
