Content originally from UKHSA

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Conference 2023 is taking place this week at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds.

The conference unites experts, researchers, policymakers, practitioners and industry leaders from diverse disciplines. Sessions will delve into the most recent advancements, strategies, and innovations in health security and protection, highlighting the distinctive influence of UKHSA.

Below is a summary of today’s activity at Conference. 

Themes explored include antimicrobial resistance, climate change and health, tackling infectious disease outbreaks, joining up biosurveillance, improving health equity, enhancing public trust and prioritising local health protection.

If you have any queries, please get in touch by emailing externalaffairs@ukhsa.gov.uk 

You can also follow UKHSA on X (Twitter) for all the latest updates.

Keynote address by UKHSA Chief Executive, Jenny Harries

In the first keynote address of UKHSA Conference, our Chief Executive, Professor Dame Jenny Harries, outlined the scale of the challenge in tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the consequences if we do not succeed, and the significant role UKHSA has in action, innovation, and collaboration.

Jenny warned that AMR is a tangible real threat to us all and needs our unwavering focus on reducing the need for antimicrobials, optimising the use of existing antimicrobials and investing in innovation.

“Without effective modern antibiotics, other antimicrobial treatments, vaccines and diagnostics, patients in the near future facing cancer treatment, colorectal surgery, hip replacements, caesarean sections or those harmed in war zones will be more likely to die from infections.”

Using her own family history, Jenny illustrated how the development of new antibiotics, antivirals and other antimicrobials has not kept pace with AMR. Jenny delivered a call to action, inviting partners to work with us to tackle AMR as the crisis of our age.

Watch Jenny share the key message from her speech on our X account.

There are things we can all do to tackle AMR and help to keep antibiotics working effectively for the future. Find out more on the Antibiotic Guardian website.

2023 ESPAUR report

UKHSA has today published the English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance (ESPAUR) report. The report finds that antibiotic resistance is once again on the increase following declines in the pandemic, with more dangerous strains of bacteria spreading in our communities and in hospitals.

An estimated 58,224 people in England had an antibiotic resistant infection in 2022 – a rise of 4% since 2021 (55,792). Deaths due to severe antibiotic resistant infections also increased from 2021 to 2022 (from 2,110 to 2,202). 

This year’s report provides additional analysis of differences in antibiotic resistance burden in England in different populations. Of all bloodstream infections detected, Asian or Asian British ethnic groups had almost double the proportion of antibiotic resistant infections (34.6%) compared to white ethnic groups (18.7%).  

Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, but inappropriate use and overuse of antibiotics can accelerate this process. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are less likely to respond to treatment, causing serious complications, including bloodstream infections, sepsis and hospitalisation. People who get a bacterial infection that is resistant to one or more antibiotics are more likely to die from their infection compared to those who have an antibiotic sensitive infection. This is why it is important to take antibiotics only when they are prescribed and necessary for the condition. 

In a video on our X account, Professor Diane Ashiru-Oredope, Lead Pharmacist for healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), explains more about the report’s findings and why we need to tackle AMR.

We have also published a new blog: The fight against antimicrobial resistance: progress and challenges.

TARGET Antibiotics toolkit

In her keynote address, Jenny Harries spoke about TARGET – Treat Antibiotics Responsibly, Guidance, Education and Tools.

Ahead of World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (WAAW) which will be taking place 18 – 24 November, we are encouraging stakeholders to share and use the TARGET antibiotics toolkit.

The toolkit, developed by UKHSA, NHS England and Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), is hosted on the RCGP website and is designed to be used by primary care teams, community pharmacies and care homes. It contains a wealth of information and resources on the best practice approach to managing common infections, while optimising antibiotic use in primary care. The resources can be used to support continuing professional development (CPD) and revalidation requirements. 

Explore the toolkit to find:

• webinars and learning resources to support clinical and professional development
• patient information leaflets to support effective discussions and shared decision-making.
• resources to support prescribers when reviewing patients on long term and repeat antibiotics.
• diagnostic and prescribing quick reference tools for common infections, including abnormal vaginal discharge (AVD) and Chlamydia

Partnership with Faculty of Public Health

We’re delighted to have the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) partnering with us at the Conference, delivering a fantastic programme looking at all aspects of health protection and the wider public health workforce. This has been developed in collaboration with other partners including the Association of Directors of Public Health, Local Government Association and Royal Society for Public Health. 

Today the President of the FPH and Public Health Director for London, Professor Kevin Fenton CBE, delivered a keynote address at the Conference highlighting the importance of maintaining the spirit of collaboration across our public health family to tackle air pollution, climate change, and inequalities.

Watch Kevin explain more about about our ‘building a successful health protection system’ stream at the Conference on our X account.

Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam addresses Conference

Former Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam delivered a keynote address in his capacity as Senior Strategy Adviser in Medicine for the University of Nottingham.

Jonathan’s address explored the opportunities and innovation for the life sciences industry. His speech focussed on the need for collaboration and co-development between government, agencies and industry to develop the products we will all need to enhance health security.

Prosperity and equity through health security

One of the themes of conference this year is prosperity and equity through health security, with sessions both days focussing on this important area of policy.

Our Chief Executive, Jenny Harries, Professor Kevin Fenton from the Faculty of Public Health and Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer will be speaking on strategies for shaping the future of health equity later today,. They will explore the latest research, application in our communities, and examine how we can build strategies for health equity.

One year on from setting out our initial approach to achieving this priority in Health equity and the UK Health Security Agency, we published a blog reflecting on progress made to deliver more equitable outcomes and outline next steps to ensure we keep all our communities safe from hazards to their health. This includes the development of a 3-year roadmap in collaboration with national and local government partners across the health system, as well as with the voluntary and community sector.

Other updates:

Below are some other UKHSA updates which may be of interest to stakeholders:

JCVI recommends chickenpox vaccine

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended a vaccine against varicella, commonly known as chickenpox, should be added to the UK’s routine childhood immunisation programme.

The vaccine would be offered to all children in 2 doses, at 12 and 18 months of age. The JCVI has also recommended a temporary catch-up programme for older children be included in the initial rollout. 

The vaccine would bring the UK into line with a number of other countries that have well-established programmes

The committee has submitted its recommendations to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), which will take a final decision on whether to implement a programme.

JCVI advises on gonorrhoea vaccine

The JCVI has issued its advice to government for a routine targeted vaccination programme for the prevention of gonorrhoea.

The JCVI’s advice on gonorrhoea says that a targeted vaccination programme should use the 4CMenB vaccine for the prevention of gonorrhoea. The MenB vaccine is currently used in the routine childhood programme for the prevention of meningococcal disease (meningitis and septicaemia).

Meningococcal disease (Neisseria meningitidis) and gonorrhoea (Neisseria gonorrhoeae) are closely genetically related, with evidence showing that MenB vaccine provides some cross-protection against gonorrhoea. In reviewing the evidence, the JCVI noted that even with the modest vaccine documented effectiveness against gonorrhoea (between 32.7% to 42%) many cases of gonorrhoea could be prevented. It was also noted that the disease itself doesn’t protect from infection and affected individuals are commonly reinfected.

The JCVI advises that a vaccination programme against gonorrhoea should primarily target gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), who have the highest rates of gonorrhoea. The advice is that the programme be offered on an opportunistic basis through specialist sexual health services.

Successful emergency department opt-out testing programme

A new report from UKHSA and the University of Bristol has found that the NHS England (NHSE) emergency department opt-out testing programme for bloodborne viruses has helped to diagnose thousands of people with serious infections.

During the first year, 33 emergency departments conducted 857,117 HIV tests, 473,723 HCV tests, and 366,722 HBV tests – significantly increasing the number of bloodborne virus tests conducted in England each year.  

Data from NHSE indicates that nearly 2,000 people were newly diagnosed with a bloodborne virus:

• 499 people with hepatitis C
• 1,143 people with hepatitis B
• 341 people with HIV

The testing is detecting infection in people who were otherwise unlikely to have been diagnosed without presentation to health services with specific complications, enabling them to access treatment.

Treatment can reduce the risk of developing serious illness or complications (such as liver cirrhosis and cancer in the case of hepatitis B and C), suppress the virus and prevent infection being passed on (if HIV is undetectable, it is untransmittable). 

COVID-19 data

COVID-19 dashboard

Every Thursday at 6pm the COVID-19 Dashboard is updated with daily data on testing, cases, healthcare and vaccinations – up to the most recent available data for each UK nation. 

Surveillance

We publish our weekly COVID-19 surveillance reports every other Thursday at 2pm. These reports summarise the surveillance of influenza, COVID-19 and other seasonal respiratory illnesses, including findings from community, primary care, secondary care and mortality surveillance systems.

Transmission statistics

The final publication of the R value and growth rate was on 23 December 2022. COVID-19 incidence data will continue to be accessible from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) COVID-19 Infection Survey, UK Statistical bulletins. 

Variants of concern

We also publish the latest data on variants of concern or under investigation data.

Notification of Infectious Diseases report

Each week, we publish the latest Weekly Statutory Notification of Infectious Diseases (NOIDs) Report on GOV.UK. Please see the Report section for all available NOIDs data. For more information on Health Protection (Notification) Regulations please view the NOIDs guidance page.