The HPA has reported the latest findings of the vCJD tonsil screening programme here. They have tested 63,000 tonsils and have found no evidence of vCJD. If their estimates, made at the beginning of the survey, were correct then they should have found about 30 positives by now. Lets hope that they don’t find any by the time the survey reaches its target of 100,000 samples.

More interesting work has been published on Vitamin D here. Vitamin D seems to play an important role in brain function as it is low in those who perform badly in mental tests. As Vitamin D is found in fish it would appear that your grandmother was right when she said fish was good for the brain. If fish is a problem for you sun light is another good source of vitamin D.

The HPA has put out a timely warning here about Lyme disease. Those living in the South of England are particularly at risk when walking through heathland or wooded areas where infected ticks live. The incidence of Lyme Disease is increasing, but this is partly due to better laboratory tests and greater awareness of the disease. The HPA gives a list of handy hints on how to prevent the ticks passing on the disease, but you will need to put a good hour or two aside after a family visit to the New Forest.

It seems that HIV enjoys a holiday just like the rest of us. Virologists have found that they can trace HIV cases in this country back to the popular holiday destinations of Greece and Spain. Read the article here . Serbia seems to be a bit of an exception as the spread from there is due to locals trying to get away from the place, bringing HIV with them.

CRP is getting a lot of attention recently. It seems to be an important predictor of outcomes in many diseases. The latest condition to benefit from an early CRP is a stroke. This article describes how the CRP seems to be useful in the first 24hrs of a stroke as a predictor of severity and long term survival. All this interest in CRP may have something to do with the CRP lowering drugs that will shortly be coming to market.

Vitamin D is sure attracting a lot of interest recently. A new paper here has linked it to Asthma while another here suggests it is useful in treating Prostate Cancer. If you would like your 1,25 Dihydroxy or 25 Hydroxy Vitamin D measured then give us a ring.