Gastroenteritis spreads amongst 130 passengers on luxury cruise ship

It has been confirmed that a sickness and diarrhoea bug has been transmitted to dozens of passengers during a 12-night luxury cruise.

An estimated 130 people on board The Black Watch – a Fred Olsen cruise ship – have contracted gastroenteritis; an inflammatory condition of the stomach and bowel (large intestine) that is usually caused by infection.

The ship had departed on 8 September with 778 guests on board, sailing from Fife to Scandinavia, and then to the Russian city of St Petersburg.

After the ship returned to Rosyth on Friday, 29 people were said to be still unwell with gastroenteritis. Specialist cleaners and health inspectors have now been drafted in to clean and fumigate the ship.

A Fred Olsen spokeswoman said: “Fred Olsen Cruise Lines can confirm, during Black Watch’s 12-night Scandinavia and St Petersburg cruise, there was an outbreak of a gastroenteritis-type illness, and every effort was made to contain the illness, in accordance with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines onboard medical protocols. Black Watch returned to Rosyth on Friday, where she is currently undergoing an intensive cleaning and sanitisation programme, which includes a complete ship fumigation by professional external contractors. Representatives from the local health authorities and Rosyth Port Health have been on board the ship this morning, and have confirmed that they are satisfied with the containment and preventative measures being undertaken by the ship It is frustrating that, even with the extra preventative and containment measures that were put in place, a number of guests on board suffered from this illness, which is common in hospitals, schools, hotels, cruise ships and other areas where people are in close proximity.”

In the UK around one in five people catch an infection causing gastroenteritis each year, with the most common causes in adults being the norovirus and from food poisoning. The infection is highly contagious through virus, bacteria or parasites and can be picked up through poor hygiene, and then transmitted to others if the person affected does not wash their hands after going to the toilet and then touches objects, contaminating them.

The time between catching an infection and an onset of the symptoms can vary according to what type of infection you have. It may be anything from one hour to a few weeks, but normally it is between one and three days.

The common symptoms are:

. Nausea.
. Repeated episodes of diarrhoea (3 or more times in 24 hours). Loose, watery stools may contain blood and mucus.
. Fever – With a temperature of 38–39C (100.4–102.2F).
. Headaches.

Dehydration is a major problem associated with gastroenteritis because your body is losing so much water through vomiting and diarrhoea. It is recommended to drink at the very minimum 2 litres (3.5 pints) of water each day, plus 200ml (a third of a pint) of water each time you pass diarrhoea.

In addition, antidiarrhoeal medications are used to ease symptoms of diarrhoea. Loperamide hydrochloride – contained in the popular Imodium Plus caplets – is a commonly used antidiarrhoeal medication to treat gastroenteritis. Loperamide hydrochloride helps to reduce diarrhoea by slowing down an overactive bowel. This helps your digestive system get back to normal, leading to firmer stools. By restoring this delicate balance, you can feel better sooner and have the confidence to get on with your day.

Plans to ban smoking in prisons – riots predicted

Smoking looks set to be banned in all prisons across England and Wales following the ministry of justice confirming a pilot scheme will be rolled out next year that will forbid smoking in every part of a prison, including cells and exercise yards.

Instead, inmates will be offered nicotine patches in an attempt to help them beat any cravings. The pilot scheme will commence in the spring of 2014, starting in Exeter and Eastwood Park Women’s Prison, before gradually introduced in more prisons over the course of a 12-month period.

The plans have been formulated out of fear that those inmates and prison officers who do not smoke may decide to launch compensation claims against the Prison Service because of the secondhand/passive smoking they are being subjected to. The dangers of secondhand smoking  is a topic that Medical Specialists Pharmacy have previously highlighted.

However, the issue of forbidding prison inmates from smoking could be viewed as a human rights issue and cause a string of legal challenges. Some even fear there is a very real prospect of inmates rioting in prisons all across England in Wales. If some criminals have a violent nature to begin with, denying them a highly addictive substance such as nicotine could cause total pandemonium.

Not only are cigarettes addictive – and about 80% of the 84,300 prison inmates smoke – but it is also seen as a valuable prison currency that is regularly traded on the prison wings. Not being able to light up as they see fit, will probably not go down too well.

Prisoners are currently given the freedom to smoke outside in the exercise yards and within their cells due to the fact it is deemed to be their “permanent or temporary home”. Bad behaviour can already result in a temporary smoking ban but the universal ban will anger the more exemplary, well-behaved inmates who look forward to cigarette breaks as an escape from the tedium of prison life.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, agrees with the proposed smoking ban but told The Times it would be difficult to implement.

He said: “There is no pretending otherwise. It could cause disturbances but they have done it successfully in Canada and in young offender institutions in England and Wales. We welcome this move. It is our policy to have smoke-free prisons for our members. We will work with the ministry to make sure it works effectively.”

In addition, there are those who say that prisoners already have a cushy life. It seems it is a weekly occurrence for stories to emerge of inmates posting pictures to their Facebook accounts showing just how cushy their life actually it.

Dee Edwards, of the R and K Foundation, a crime victims’ group, said: “Prisoners are already better fed and cared for than pensioners so why should they be treated any different to the rest of society? It’s getting to point where you can’t even smoke outside a building now so I don’t see why prisoners shouldn’t be banned. If you have a low level criminal who smoke 20 a day may be it will even act as a deterrent if they think they could do to jail and not be able to smoke.”

However, Mark Johnson, chief executive of the prisoner charity User Voice, says that smoking is a “human right” and believes that prisoners who smoke may decide to take legal action if it is banned.

Counterfeit condoms seized in Russia, policeman rejects bribe

On Tuesday members of a southern Russian police force confirmed they had apprehended a male in connection with the sale of counterfeit condoms and the subsequent attempt – and failure – to bribe a police official.

Rostov Region police released a statement saying: “The police learned that the man was selling a well-known brand of condoms wholesale online. Finding that the salesman was not connected to the production company, police officers carried out a test purchase by ordering 15,000 items.”

The suspect apprehended in police custody had initially personally delivered the counterfeit condoms on a truck from the Ukraine, and was arrested as he attempted to load the condoms onto another vehicle.

The statement also revealed that on the very same day the man was detained, he had tried to bribe a policeman with 40,000 rubles ($1,237) for ‘looking the other way’ and not seizing the counterfeit condoms. Unfortunately for the counterfeiter, the policeman did the correct thing and followed protocol, reporting the attempted bribe to his superiors.

With the prevention of the fake condoms making their way to the unsuspecting public, the cargo was seized and police are expected to begin a criminal case on attempted bribery charges.

However, what is unclear from the statement released by the police, is the actual danger that counterfeit condoms can pose. None of the counterfeit condoms are properly sterilised and their quality is almost always so substandard that they can easily rupture during use and thus cannot protect against sexually transmitted infections or even act as a viable contraception method.

Governmental agency has seen an alarming rise in the circulation of counterfeit condoms and have even enlisted the help of specially trained sniffer dogs who have assisted in a series of raids as the MHRA look to crackdown on the production and sale of the poor quality condoms. The practice is said to cost the UK up to around £400 million in lost tax, additional healthcare and welfare.

Your sexual health should never be compromised and all contraception such as condoms should only be obtained from a trusted and reputable source such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy.

Coincidentally, it is actually still Sexual Health Week (running up to the 22^nd) and to support the week and raise awareness, Medical Specialists have been giving away 1,000s of free condoms this week with all sexual health products. Whether this be Viagra, Cialis, Azithromycin, or a Clamelle chlamydia test kit, you will receive free Skins condoms!

In addition, during Sexual Health Week we are running a fantastic promotion on Durex Performa condoms,  slashing the price of a pack of individually wrapped 72 Durex Performa condoms by half…yes half! These can be yours today for the rock bottom price of just £30!

Junk food at supermarket checkouts is worsening the obesity crisis

Parents – have you ever been stood in a supermarket shopping queue that seems to never decrease in size, this whilst simultaneously being nagged endlessly by your children for chocolate and/or sweets which are convenient placed right at the end of each and every checkout. If so, you are not alone, and this is the dilemma faced by millions of parents around Britain who are being harassed by their children into buying the unhealthy junk food stacked up at the checkouts.

In fact, a new survey has found that a staggering 90% of shoppers believe this cunning sales tactic is partly contributing to obesity and surely now the Government will be forced to push through legislation aimed at stopping this practice, and easing the spiralling obesity crisis.

On Monday a campaign was launched called ‘Junk Free Checkouts’ which does exactly what it says on the tin – aims to make supermarket checkouts free of junk and help to put an end to the ‘pester power’ of children who almost bully their parents into buying them unhealthy and high sugary treats that are placed near the tills.

The initiative was announced by the British Dietetic Association and the Children’s Food Campaign, following the results of a nationwide survey in which 78% of people complained that junk food at supermarket checkouts is ‘annoying’. Moreover, 83% of respondents said they had been nagged by their children for junk food at the checkouts and 75% have relented and bought junk for their children due to incessant pestering.

There was almost 2,000 people who completed the Chuck the Junk Survey, mainly comprising of women, of which two thirds had children.

Supermarkets have been pressured by health campaigners for a number of years to stop selling unhealthy junk food at their tills as they say it is blatantly targeted at easily swayed children and the promotional offers do not help matters on what has been described as the ‘guilt lanes’.

Speaking on behalf of the British Dietetic Association, obesity specialist Linda Hindle commented: “Retailers are unwilling to stop pushing unhealthy food at the checkout and queuing areas. It may be lucrative for them but, as our survey found, it is deeply unpopular with customers and nudges purchasing behaviour in the wrong direction. If retailers can’t act on their own, then we hope to see robust action from the Government to tackle this problem.”

The issue was raised in Government back in July when health minister Anna Soubry blasted supermarkets for the cynical store layouts which make it particularly difficult for parents with young children. However, she then ruled out any clampdown on the sweet and chocolate guilt lanes in shops and supermarkets, merely days after making a vow to get rid of them.

Some of the worst offenders in this regard have found to be Asda, Morrisons and Tesco, all stocking an alarming amount of junk food at their tills.

Campaigners have hit out at Supermarkets for seemingly not acting on promises to improve their methods in selling confectionery in the wake of a 2003 investigation by the independent watchdog the Food Commission.

There are those who say that stocking checkout aisles with chocolate and sweets is a calculating ploy by the supermarkets to tempt shoppers into a sugar rush after a long, laborious trek around the supermarket.

Professor of marketing at EM-Lyon Business School, Agnes Nairn, said that shoppers could change their buying habits by the point of reaching the checkout. “Consumers are more likely to go for something unhealthy when they are tired because they aren’t able to make the rational decision they would make otherwise,” she said. “Although they all know that a chocolate egg is not as good for them as fruit salad, if you have to do that in a hurry, they make the wrong choice.”

Coleshill in Warwickshire is dubbed the Viagra capital of England

According to the tourism website Within Warwickshire, the market town of Coleshill in North Warwickshire ‘boasts a number of quirky curiosities’ and interesting attractions, such as one of the finest and biggest church steeples across the county. This is the Church of St Peter and St Paul, which has an incredible 52-metre steeple dating back to the 13th century.

Unfortunately, the church steeple may take on a new, if slightly humorous, significance after Coleshill has been given the moniker of the ‘Viagra capital of England’, having the highest number of NHS prescriptions per 1,000 men in the country for the erectile dysfunction medication.

New NHS figures show that the residents of Coleshill, which according to a 2001 census has a population of just 6,343, are the biggest Viagra consumers in the country. The stats show that 55 in every 1,000 men in Coleshill are being prescribed Viagra by their GP, in addition to other popular anti-impotence medications such as Cialis and Levitra.

The sleepy market town was way ahead of its closest contender for the title of ‘Viagra capital’ – Wychavon, across the border in Worcestershire, where there are 43 prescriptions issued for every 1,000 men.

The rest of the top 5 comprised of Dartford in Kent, in third place (42 per 1,000 men), followed by Hastings in East Sussex (41 per 1,000 men) and East Lindsey in Lincolnshire (40 per 1,000 men).

So why has Coleshill managed to claim the title it has? A local landlord believes the number of pubs in the town may be a contributing factor. Simon Kennedy, 38, spoke to the Sunday Times and said: “It’s a strange one. It is an old coaching town and there are a lot of pubs. I don’t know if that might be a factor. Perhaps they need some assistance after visiting all the pubs? There are only a couple of chemists in the town so they must be well stocked up on Viagra.”

Some residents are happily quick to speak about their use of Viagra. Al Gorman, a male stripper, admits to using Viagra, and raved about the wonders of the little blue pill: “It boosts my private life and my work life."

The divorced father of three says: “I use Viagra all the time. I want to perform well and don’t want to let anyone down. I’m not surprised we have more users than anywhere else in the country, because we’re more fun.”

Martin Raybone, a 63-year-old insurance assessor, added: We’re a fun bunch in Coleshill and it seems most of us enjoy happy, healthy sex lives. We have nothing to complain about here – there’s no aggro, no litter and we’re no Victor Meldrew brigade. People have well-paid jobs and decent pensions, and we like to go out or stay in and have a good time.”

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, the lowest number of people receiving prescriptions for erectile dysfunction medication were in areas such as London, Cambridge and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Although, it could be that those living in cities are more like to acquire such medications through private means such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy, in order to avoid a possible excruciatingly embarrassing face-to-face visit with a GP and the efficiency and speed of obtaining Viagra, Cialis, etc. through the internet and then delivered to their chosen destination the very next day.

Children given Calpol could be more likely to develop asthma

A major study has found a possible link between paracetamol – the primary ingredient of Calpol medicines – and the risk of children developing asthma.

Calpol is the most popular painkiller in Britain; given to 84% of babies during the first six months of their life, but there are presently no warnings in regards to the possible health risks of the medicine.
In fact, the study, conducted by Spanish scientists, suggests that children who are given Calpol just once each month could be around five times more likely to develop asthma.

Moreover, even those having the medicine just once a year could be up to 70% more at risk claim the researchers behind the study, who have stated their belief that paracetamol may help to explain rising cases of childhood asthma.

Researchers from the University of Da Caruna in northern Spain asked parents of 10,371 children aged 6 to 7, and 10,372 children aged 13 to 14 whether their children were suffering from asthma and if so, the severity of it. Those involved in the study were schoolchildren from six areas in Galicia in Spain, between 2006 and 2007.

In addition, researchers asked the parents how frequently their children were given paracetamol during the previous year and how often during the time they were of infant age.

Children in the younger age group given the medicine at least once a month were apparently over five times more times likely to have asthma and those given it just once a year were found to be approximately 70% more at risk.

However, there are those who have called into question the validity of the study. As the study assessed paracetamol use and asthma symptoms (wheezing) at the same time, it is viable that children with asthma symptoms are simply more likely to be given paracetamol by their parents to help with the symptoms, as opposed to paracetamol directly contributing to the asthma.

Dr Martin Scurr, a GP in London, says it is difficult to draw conclusions from the study and further research needs to be carried out.

“It could be that children with asthma are more likely to get coughs and colds and then are given Calpol by their mothers,” he said. “At the moment Calpol is the best we have – and it’s all we have so there is no reason to stop using it.”

Asthma was assessed by asking parents and children only about episodes of wheezing and as such, may not represent an accurate medical diagnosis of asthma. Also, as the paracetamol usage/frequency was self-reported, it is unlikely to be 100% accurate.

Therefore, it would be wrong to suggest a definite connection between paracetamol use and asthma. As with all medicines, paracetamol should only be given to children if it is required.

The number of children developing asthma in Britain has more than doubled in the last 50 years, with many studies being carried out to find out why, and health experts at loggerheads as to what reasons are causing the increase.

An estimated 1.1 million youngsters in Britain are suffering from the lung condition, and added to 4.3 million adults who have asthma, it causes 1,400 deaths each year in the UK.

Visit the ‘Asthma and Allergies’ area of the Medical Specialists Pharmacy website today for a full list of all the preventer and reliever inhalers we provide for suitable patients.

If you have already been prescribed an inhaler, have lost your inhaler, or run out and cannot get a prescription immediately, we are able to supply you an inhaler to help your asthma symptoms. You can undergo a quick and easy confidential online consultation with one of our GMC-registered Doctors and if suitable, they will write you a prescription which is passed to our in-house RPSGB–registered Pharmacists and dispensed to a location of your choice, all within just 24 hours!*

*Allow extra time for overseas deliveries.

Online Pharmacy to give away 1,000s of condoms for Sexual Health Week

 Sexual Health Week 2013 will take place this year from 16 to 22 September and is one of many national campaigns which Medical Specialists Pharmacy are proud supporters of.  Therefore we have teamed up with Skins Condoms to give out free condoms to any patient who obtains sexual health products during that particular week, such as Viagra, a Clamelle chlamydia test kit, Durex play vibration rings, etc. You are guaranteed to get more bang for your buck during Sexual Health Week with Medical Specialists Pharmacy.


The words ‘sexual health’ will always be synonymous with condoms, but choosing the right condom can be tricky. One massively popular type is the ‘long love condoms’, as nicknamed by the German scientists who devised them. They are an excellent method of ensuring sexual health AND prolonging yours and your partner’s sexual excitement – quite handy when bearing in mind that Medical Specialists Pharmacy research has found that 20% of women rate their most recent sexual partner has having a poor to very poor performance, and almost a third (32%) want their man to last longer in bed.

One particular ‘long love’ condom is the Durex Performa, which has a special non-spermicidal Benzocaine lubricant cream inside the teat end of the condom to help control climax for longer lasting lovemaking and better sex. This is of course a fantastic bonus on top of its other main functions of preventing an unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection! Of course, we do realise there are some people who are somewhat careless, and this is why Medical Specialists Pharmacy can supply the Levonelle 1500 morning after pill in addition to a range of treatments for sexually transmitted infections such as herpes and chlamydia.

However, with regards to condoms, an important factor to take into account is that there are often reports of counterfeit condoms in circulation around the country by their millions. A cheap and poorly-made counterfeit condom is unlikely to provide any of its main functions, let alone the added bonus you can get from condoms such as the Durex Performa.

Therefore, condoms and other contraception methods should only be obtained from a reputable source such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy, and during Sexual Health Week we will be offering a fantastic bargain on the previously mentioned Durex Performa condoms,  slashing the price of a pack of individually wrapped 72 Durex Performa condoms by half…yes half! For the unbelievably low price of just £30.00 this bundle can be yours.

For those unaware, Sexual Health Week has been pioneered by the Family Planning Association (FPA) in partnership with Brook, with the theme remaining as last year’s XES We can’t go backwards campaign.

The aims of the national campaign are to protect and promote sexual health and contraception services by fighting government budget cuts, policy changes, and more specifically; the lack of easy access to contraception due to closures of sexual health centres or alterations to their opening hours.
Both FPA and Brook have stated they receive a large number of calls from worried and unhappy members of the public, being denied basic access to the advice, products and services that they require.

However, calls they probably won’t receive are the types of calls Medical Specialists receive on a daily basis – distressed men who are having problems in the bedroom. Whether this is in the form of erectile dysfunction and/or premature ejaculation, each problem can place a great deal of stress onto relationships and cause a huge loss of self-esteem for the male.

The fact we receive so many calls is a positive thing as it means that the majority of men are no longer suffering in silence, but some still are. Erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation are viewed as genuine medical conditions and as such, require treatment. This may come in the form of lifestyle changes such as giving up smoking or managing stress, but in most cases erectile dysfunction usually requires treatment through a type of medication known as a Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitor, such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra. On the other hand, premature ejaculation can be treated with a medication known as Priligy in addition to those wonderful long love condoms which can also help you last longer in the bedroom!