Hot Topics Flashcards
What must we know about vaccines?
Uptake of all 13 vaccines fell between 2018 and 2019.
Some conditions (e.g. mumps and rubella) require children to be given multiple vaccine doses over time.
Vaccines are also offered in schools. The HPV vaccine is offered to 12 and 13-year-olds to protect against some cancers that are commonly caused by high-risk types of HPV, such as cervical cancer.
Most vaccines provide long-term immunity. However, the flu vaccine only provides immunity for a short amount of time as the virus mutates each year. This means the strains in last year’s vaccines may not circulate in next year’s vaccines.
Those 65 and older can receive flu vaccines on the NHS, whilst primary school children can receive the vaccine in the form of a nasal spray.
Describe the key issue of anti-vaccination groups
Anti-vaccination groups claim that vaccines are unnatural and toxic, with an emphasis on the alleged risks of vaccines. Anti-vaccination social media pages have had an increase of 7.7 million followers from the UK and US during the COVID-19 pandemic. An investigation revealed that hundreds of NHS staff were members of an anti-vaxxer Facebook group that compared the COVID-19 vaccination to poison and are opposed to wearing masks.
It’s become such a big issue that Labour proposed a new law to tackle the spread of fake anti-vaccination news during the pandemic.
Describe the key issue of Andrew Wakefield and the MMR scandal
In 1998, a controversial paper linking the MMR vaccine to autism was published in the Lancet, authored by Andrew Wakefield and 12 others. The paper proposed a new syndrome called autistic enterocolitis that raised the possible link between a novel bowel disease, autism and the MMR vaccine.
The paper got widespread publicity despite the fact that the sample size was small, it couldn’t be replicated and the design was uncontrolled. It later emerged that the team behind the paper had engaged in ethical misconduct.
What was the impact of Wakefield’s paper on the MMR scandal?
The claims have been proven to be false, but the drop in the MMR vaccine uptake has continued.
Childhood vaccinations began to fall in 1998, coinciding with the publication of Wakefield’s paper. They continued to fall until 2003/4, reaching a low of 79.9%.
Andrew Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register in 2010 but has since become a prominent figure in the American anti-vaxxer movement.
Describe the key issue of the increase in measles
In 2017, the WHO declared the UK had eliminated measles after the country reached a high enough level of immunity to stop endemic transmission. However, in August 2019 the UK lost its measle-free status.
It’s thought that this can be traced back to the falling levels of MMR vaccinations between 1998 and 2004 – because these children are now at university, and that’s where the high level of measles and mumps are being reported.
In 2019 there were 890 cases of measles reported in England. The year before there were almost 1,000 measles cases and 5,500 cases of mumps.
What questions about vaccines may we be asked?
Should the vaccination of children become mandatory?
If a country develops a vaccine against COVID-19, should it be able to prevent export until all its citizens are immunised?
What is euthanasia?
Euthanasia, sometimes known as ‘mercy killing’, refers to ending a patient’s life who is suffering from an incurable and/or painful disease, or who is in an irreversible coma.
What are the two types of euthanasia?
Active euthanasia and passive euthanasia
What is active euthanasia?
when the acting person deliberately intervenes to end someone’s life. For example – a Doctor who injects a patient with terminal cancer an overdose of muscle relaxants to end their life would be considered to have carried out euthanasia.
What is Passive euthanasia?
where a person causes death by withholding or withdrawing treatment that is necessary to maintain life. For example – withholding antibiotics from someone who has bacterial pneumonia.
What is assisted suicide?
the only difference between this and euthanasia is the person who actually performs the final act. In assisted suicide, the physician intentionally gives the patients the means to take the lethal medication themselves. For active euthanasia, the physician is the one who commits the act that directly causes death i.e. by injecting lethal drugs.
What is assisted dying?
This is a sub-term of assisted suicide but is only used in the context of when a patient who is already dying, i.e. terminally ill, asks for help to die. Assisted dying is not usually used in the context of bringing about the deaths of patients who are not already dying (for example, paralysed patients or those who have found out that they have developed a condition in the future i.e. Huntington’s Disease).
Describe euthanasia in the UK.
Both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in the UK, with euthanasia punishable by life imprisonment, and assisted suicide illegal under the 1961 Suicide Act and punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
It’s important to understand the difference between passive euthanasia and withdrawing treatment in a person’s best interests. Passive euthanasia is illegal in the UK.
However, the NHS states that withdrawing life-sustaining care when in a patient’s best interests can form part of good palliative care (and should not be confused with ‘passive euthanasia’).
What is the most important medical advancement in recent history?
Lacroscopic surgery (key hole surgery)
