Rabies vaccines see surge in demand following tragic death of British gran
Pharmacist Olamide Olokanmi confirmed the rise in numbers of people asking for rabies treatment. His pharmacy in Otley, West Yorkshire, had stocked up on the jab
The tragic death of a British gran from rabies has sparked a surge in travellers seeking advice about vaccinations.
Yvonne Ford 59, from Barnsley, died in hospital in Sheffield on 11 June after being scratched by the stray dog during a family trip to Morocco in February. Pharmacist Olamide Olokanmi confirmed the rise in numbers of people asking for rabies treatment. His pharmacy in Otley, West Yorkshire, had stocked up on the jab but he was concerned that an increase in demand may lead to a shortage of supply.
"We frequently have supply issues with vaccines, especially when there's a high demand for them, and rabies notoriously seems to be one of them," said Mr Olokanmi. "Year-on-year we always have that problem, so I do foresee that being a problem. There would then be a wait for it to come back in or we'd have to go to another manufacturer which then drives up the price of the vaccine."
It currently costs up to £330 for a three-dose rabies vaccine. Mrs Ford's death from the virus was the first in the UK since 2018 when a British man was bitten by a cat in the same African country. Mr Olokanmi has seen a rise in the number of customers seeking advice about whether to get the vaccination before travelling to high-risk regions such as Asia, Africa and Central and South America. Before news of Mrs Ford's death, most people accessing the pharmacy's travel clinic opted not to get the jab, he said.
He told the BBC: "We had one lady come in on Wednesday night who is going on holiday to Morocco. She wasn't going to get the vaccine but after hearing what happened to this lady she changed her mind.
A young man has also come in who is going to Morocco and we've had a lot of phone calls from people asking about it."
The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), said its members were directing customers to the UK government travel advice.
The travel agents have a duty to give advice about vaccines to holidaymakers when planning and booking their trip. That guidance was repeated for the benefit of their members this week.
Spokesperson Emma Brennan added: "The UK Foreign Office does a lot to raise awareness of checking this advice and we support them in that, and their work with industry."
Barnsley NHS Foundation Trust confirmed his wife was diagnosed with rabies.
It is a rare but serious infection that is usually caught from the bite or scratch of infected dogs, bats, raccoons and foxes.
Although the risk of getting it while travelling is small, rabies is more common in parts of Asia, Africa and Central and South America.
Dr Katherine Russell, of the UK Health Security Agency, said: 'If you are bitten, scratched or licked by an animal in a country where rabies is found, you should wash the wound with plenty of soap and water and seek medical advice without delay in order to get post-exposure treatment to prevent rabies."
The UK has been rabies-free since 1922, when the last indigenous non-fatal case was recorded, with the exception of rabies-like viruses in some wild bat species. Omar Zouhri, 58, was the last person to die in the UK from rabies; he was bitten by a rabid cat while in Morocco.
Mr Zouhri, from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, died in hospital in Oxford on November 4, 2018.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
4 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Brit fighting for life after catching deadly disease on all-inclusive at hols hotspot
The Brit was rushed to hospital and put in an induced coma HOLS HORROR Brit fighting for life after catching deadly disease on all-inclusive at hols hotspot Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BRITISH tourist is fighting for her life after catching a deadly disease while on her all-inclusive holiday in Greece. Donna Jobling, 57, from west Hull, came down with Legionnaires' disease on the island of Crete, and is in intensive care. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Donna Jobling, 57, of west Hull, is fighting for her life in hospital Credit: MEN Media 2 Donna was on holiday in Crete with her husband and two friends Credit: Getty She is receiving urgent treatment at Venizeleio Hospital in Heraklion after falling ill just days into the trip. Donna was holidaying with her husband Sidney and friends Paula and Nicolas Mason, also of Hull. The group had been enjoying a £1,500-per-couple all-inclusive trip when Donna fell ill. She developed a chest infection and needed lots of rest, and then became seriously ill two days later. Donna, who suffers from "complex" medical conditions including epilepsy, was taken to hospital on June 11 and doctors put her in an induced coma. Tests confirmed she had contracted Legionnaires' disease, which triggered acute respiratory failure and pneumonia. Her "devastated" family has flown out to be by her side. Neice Claire, 42, has been back-and-forth between Crete and Hull. She is currently in East Yorkshire to obtain Donna's insurance documents before flying back out. The couple was travelling with Easyjet. A spokesperson for the company said: "We're so sorry to hear that Ms Jobling is unwell, and we're continuing to support her and her family in every way we can. "As soon as we were made aware of reports of illness, we immediately took action and contacted customers who were already staying in the hotel, or due to travel in the next four weeks, to provide alternative hotel options." More to follow... For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video. Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.
The Independent
5 hours ago
- The Independent
I've been ordered by my doctor to stop doomscrolling for medical reasons
At a particularly dark time for world affairs, I often find myself compulsively doomscrolling at on my phone, sometimes disappearing into the bathroom to do it. It often feels like a brief escape from the kids. But I had no idea that it can cause serious health problems. Earlier this week, Dr Pumam Krisham, the resident doctor on BBC Morning Live, claimed that sitting on the loo and scrolling on your phone has been known to cause haemorrhoids – or worse. It can also give you a weakened pelvic floor, which can trigger bladder issues such as incontinence, or even result in prolapse. If the perils of being exposed to too much bluescreen weren't giving you sleepless nights, that surely will. But doomscrolling on the loo is a habit that 57 per cent of Britons admit to doing, according to a YouGov poll – myself included. It's so easy for a three-minute trip to the loo to turn into 15 to 20 minutes of scrolling, posting and texting. And it's the reason I ended up in hospital last week. I've had insomnia, which has weakened my immune system. It turns out that waking at 3am and checking your phone, thinking 'Has the US bombed Iran yet…?', interferes with your sleep patterns, suppressing melatonin production and making it harder to drift off and stay asleep. A recent study showed how an extra hour of screen time each day was linked to a 33 per cent increase in insomnia risk. And, earlier this month, another study – of teenagers' habits – revealed that spending more than two hours a day scrolling on phones or tablets doubles their risk of anxiety disorders and increases their chances of depression fourfold. I hit rock bottom in my bathroom last week. Having lost all sense of time, I eventually realised I'd been scrolling through stories about the Air India crash for 45 minutes, which itself is pretty unhealthy. But 'toilet-scrolling', as it's known, is a double-whammy health hazard. The combination of the pressure on your lower quarters from prolonged sitting and the negative impact on mental health of doomscrolling finally took its toll on me: I had to go to hospital. In hindsight, I had been needing to use the bathroom more frequently, which had meant scrolling even more than usual while locked in there… and eventually I started to feel quite unwell. But I had no idea that, on a Sunday at an urgent walk-in centre, I would be diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. I was given emergency antibiotics – but it didn't get any better. When I developed a mild fever and a rash on my leg, I was directed to A&E as there was a chance the infection could be sepsis. When I did the 'blanching test', the rash didn't fade when pressed with a clear glass. Typically, before I was called to give a urine sample, do blood tests and have an ultrasound to check my kidneys, I spent my time in the hospital waiting room doomscrolling. I was put on new, mega-strong antibiotics and ordered to rest in bed, which I'm not good at. I was also told that I needed to look at the stress levels in my life and make changes. Doomscrolling on the loo has got to go. To avoid further bladder issues, I have now weaned myself off toilet-scrolling – a filthy habit that triggers a dopamine release but is just not worth it. So, goodbye, doomscrolling. Catching up on all the bad news from around the world on your phone is one thing – but doing it on the loo is a recipe for disaster.
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
Esther Rantzen hails Commons passage of ‘rigorous and safe' assisted dying bill
The assisted dying bill, if it becomes law, would remove the burden of seeing a loved one die in pain, the campaigner Esther Rantzen has said, insisting its backers have got right the balance between giving help to those who ask for it and protecting vulnerable people. The terminally ill adults (end of life) bill cleared the Commons with a majority of 23 votes on Friday, but must yet be debated by the Lords before returning to the Commons for consideration of any amendments they may make. 'I think people misunderstand when somebody says 'one of the reasons I wanted assisted dying was I didn't want to be a burden'. Well, that's how I feel in the sense that, if I die in agony, that memory will be a burden for my family. Not because I'm awkward or inconvenient, I may be both those things, but because nobody wants to see a loved one die in pain. Nobody wants that,' Rantzen told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday. Asked if she had any doubts about the detail of the bill, she added: 'I think we have got this right. Having the committee stage [in parliament], with that committee rigorously looking at every clause and deciding to set up a multidisciplinary panel of social workers, someone versed in psychology, someone legal, so that they could examine it in each case.' She added this 'makes it so rigorous and so safe. And, in other countries around the world which we've looked at because they've had assisted dying legalised for some time, it has not produced coercion.' The legislation could face a difficult passage through the Lords, with critics poised to table amendments to add further restrictions and safeguards to the bill. And it was suggested to Rantzen that peers could also choose to debate it for so long that it simply runs out of parliamentary time. 'I don't need to teach the House of Lords how to do their job. They know it very well, and they know that laws are produced by the elected chamber. Their job is to scrutinise, to ask questions, but not to oppose.' Rantzen, who turns 85 on Sunday and has terminal cancer, acknowledged the legislation would probably not become law in time for her to use it and she would have to 'buzz off to Zurich' to use the Dignitas clinic. The Paralympian and crossbench peer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson told BBC Breakfast: 'We're getting ready for it to come to the Lords and, from my personal point of view, about amending it to make it stronger … I do think there are a lot more safeguards that could be put in.' And the Conservative peer and disability rights campaigner Lord Shinkwin said the narrow Commons majority underlined the need for peers to take a close look at the legislation. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who steered the bill through the Commons, said she hoped peers would not seek to derail the legislation, which could run out of parliamentary time if it is held up in the Lords. 'I would be upset to think that anybody was playing games with such an important and such an emotional issue.'
