Heat health alert extended as soaring temperatures set to stay
A heat health alert has been extended as sizzling temperatures continue to impact Sussex.
The UK Health Security Agency has extended the amber heat health alert until Wednesday, July 2, at 9am.
It was originally due to end tomorrow, July 1.
The alert warns of significant impacts across health and social care services, including a rise in deaths among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions.
There may also be impacts on younger age groups.
There is also likely to be an increased demand on all health and social care services.
READ MORE: Updates as Sussex braces itself for another day of hot weather
Temperatures are set to remain high in Brighton, with an average of 28C tomorrow and 27C on Wednesday.
The weather for the rest of the week is forecast to remain warm, with temperatures sitting at around 23 to 24C until Sunday, July 6.
The UKHSA advises people to keep out of the sun at the hottest time of the day, between 11am and 3pm, and check on family, friends and neighbours who may be at higher risk of becoming unwell.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The 'heat dome' explained as parts of the UK roasted by 34C temperatures today
Parts of the UK, particularly places in the South East of England, are being roasted by scorching temperatures of as high as 34C this week. Amber heat-health alerts have been issued by the Met Office and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), with these having been in place since the end of last week. Unbearably warm weather like this is often caused by what is known as the "heat dome" effect. The term "heat dome" is used to describe conditions that are not too dissimilar to a pizza oven, according to Sky News. This is caused when an area of high pressure lingers over a region for days or weeks. The pressure traps the hot air like the dome of a pizza oven, baking the air and surface underneath. As the ground parches, it begins to absorb more of the heat, making conditions much worse. A heat dome is currently sitting above Europe at the moment, with the UK being at the cusp of its reach. This means the UK is being impacted by the heat dome effect in much the same way as countries like Greece, which are basking in 40C weather, are. Several regions across England are covered by the heat-health alert issued by the Met Office and UKHSA. These are the following places covered by the Amber Alert, which has been in place since Thursday and Friday. West Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber regions East Midlands South East South West London East of England Monday to be one of the UK's hottest June days ever as amber warning persists What happens if you get dehydrated? GP shares health risks to look out for Hottest day of the year so far recorded as UK temperatures top Hawaii Discussing the heatwave, Dr Agostinho Sousa, Head of Extreme Events and Health Protection at UKHSA, said: "The current spell of hot weather is forecast to continue until the middle of this week, with temperatures above 30°C likely in most regions of England. "We are reminding everyone to take sensible precautions while enjoying the sun. "Remember that it is very important to check on friends, family and neighbours who are more vulnerable, as the temperatures we are likely to see over the next few days can result in serious health outcomes across the population, especially for older adults or those with pre-existing health conditions."
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Microsoft says its new health AI beat doctors in accurate diagnoses by a mile
Microsoft said its medical AI diagnosed cases four times as accurately as human doctors. The AI system also solved cases "more cost-effectively" than its human counterparts, Microsoft said. The study comes as AI's growing role in healthcare raises questions about its place in medicine. Microsoft said its medical AI system diagnosed cases more accurately than human doctors by a wide margin. In a blog post published on Monday, the tech giant said its AI system, the Microsoft AI Diagnostic Orchestrator, diagnosed cases four times as accurately as a group of experienced physicians in a test. Microsoft's study comes as AI tools rapidly make their way into hospitals and clinics, raising questions about how much of medicine can or should be automated and what role doctors will play as diagnostic AI systems get more capable. The experiment involved 304 case studies sourced from the New England Journal of Medicine. Both the AI and physicians had to solve these cases step by step, just like they would in a real clinic: ordering tests, asking questions, and narrowing down possibilities. The AI system was paired with large language models from tech companies like OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic, and Google. When coupled with OpenAI's o3, the AI diagnostic system correctly solved 85.5% of the cases, Microsoft said. By contrast, 21 practicing physicians from the US and UK — each with five to 20 years of experience — averaged 20% accuracy across the completed cases, the company added. In the study, the doctors did not have access to resources they might typically tap for diagnostics, including coworkers, books, and AI. The AI system also solved cases "more cost-effectively" than its human counterparts, Microsoft said. "Our findings also suggest that AI reduce unnecessary healthcare costs. US health spending is nearing 20% of US GDP, with up to 25% of that estimated to be wasted," it added. "We're taking a big step towards medical superintelligence," said Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft's AI division, in a post on X. He added that the cases used in the study are "some of the toughest and most diagnostically complex" a physician can face. Suleyman previously led AI efforts at Google. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Microsoft said in the blog post that AI "represents a complement to doctors and other health professionals." "While this technology is advancing rapidly, their clinical roles are much broader than simply making a diagnosis. They need to navigate ambiguity and build trust with patients and their families in a way that AI isn't set up to do," Microsoft said. "Clinical roles will, we believe, evolve with AI," it added. Tech leaders like Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates have said that AI could help solve the long-standing shortage of doctors. "AI will come in and provide medical IQ, and there won't be a shortage," he said on an episode of the "People by WTF" podcast published in April. But doctors have told BI that AI can't and shouldn't replace clinicians just yet. AI can't replicate physicians' presence, empathy, and nuanced judgment in uncertain or complex conditions, said Dr. Shravan Verma, the CEO of a Singapore-based health tech startup. Chatbots and AI tools can handle the first mile of care, but they must escalate to qualified professionals when needed, he told BI last month. Do you have a story to share about AI in healthcare? Contact this reporter at cmlee@ Read the original article on Business Insider


Medscape
an hour ago
- Medscape
How the Shingles Vaccine Guards Against Dementia: New Clues
How do vaccines reduce dementia risk? A new study suggested that immune-boosting adjuvants contained in some vaccines may offer one explanation. Adults who received the recombinant shingles vaccine Shingrix or the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Arexvy — both of which contain the AS01 adjuvant — had a lower risk for dementia in the 18 months after vaccination than peers who received the flu vaccine, which does not contain the AS01 adjuvant, investigators found. 'The findings are striking. We need studies to confirm whether the adjuvant present in some vaccines contributes to the reduced dementia risk and to understand how it does so,' senior author Paul Harrison, PhD, with the University of Oxford, Oxford, England, said in a statement. The study was published online on June 25 in the journal npj Vaccines . Vaccine or the Adjuvant? For this study, investigators built on a prior analysis of the US patient database TriNetX that showed that adults who received the AS01 shingles vaccine had a lower risk for dementia than peers who received the older shingles vaccine (Zostavax), which does not contain the AS01 adjuvant. To test the hypothesis that the AS01 adjuvant could be the key driver of the dementia-protective effect, researchers turned again to the TriNetX database and identified 103,798 people who received the AS01 shingles vaccine only, 35,938 who received the AS01 RSV vaccine only, and 78,658 who received both. These cohorts were propensity score matched to an equal number of people who received the flu vaccine and neither the shingles nor the RSV vaccine. In the 18 months following vaccination, compared to those who received the flu vaccine, the risk for dementia diagnosis was 29% lower in those who received the AS01 RSV vaccine (restricted mean time lost [RMTL] ratio, 0.71) and 18% lower in those who received the AS01 shingles vaccine (RMTL, 0.82). Individuals receiving both AS01 vaccines had a 37% reduced risk for dementia diagnosis (RMTL, 0.63). These effects were consistent in men and women and were not explained by reductions in RSV or shingles infections alone. And no difference was observed between the two AS01 adjuvant vaccines, 'suggesting that the AS01 adjuvant itself plays a direct role in lowering dementia risk,' the investigators said. 'Our data provide support for the hypothesis that, besides protection against their target infection, these vaccines could well protect against dementia via the action of the AS01 components through specific immunological pathways,' they wrote. In particular, the AS01 adjuvant includes monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), which activates immune cells, and QS-21, a plant-derived extract that amplifies the immune response. Animal studies have shown that MPL can improve Alzheimer-related pathology, and other work suggests it triggers immune activity that might reduce the formation of amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Caveats and Cautionary Notes Several experts not involved in the study offered perspective on this research in a statement from the UK nonprofit Science Media Centre. Julia Dudley, head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said a strength of the study is that it adjusted for factors that could influence risk, such as underlying health conditions and some lifestyle and environmental factors. 'However, as the study is observational and examined past health data, the researchers cannot conclude how the Shingrix and Arexvy vaccines may protect against dementia. We also cannot rule out that the link between vaccine and dementia risk is due to other factors not captured in this study, such as social and lifestyle factors,' Dudley said. A limitation of the study, highlighted by the authors, is that people could be living with dementia without having a formal diagnosis, 'which could skew the findings,' Dudley commented. In addition, 'we do not know if the adjuvant is reducing the risk of dementia or delaying its onset. The follow-up period was only 18 months, so more research is needed to determine the potential long-term effects of the vaccines,' Dudley said. Kevin McConway, PhD, emeritus professor of applied statistics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, England, said the study is 'an interesting, worthwhile, and statistically competent piece of work, but a lot more research needs to be done to make good sense of its possible implications for healthcare.' 'Previous research has provided pretty convincing evidence that vaccination against shingles, in older people, can reduce dementia risk [but] exactly how AS01 might be involved in reducing dementia risk' is unclear, McConway said, and 'we're not yet anywhere near the stage of using the results of the new study to change clinical practice.' Andrew Pollard, FMedSci, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, University of Oxford, agreed. 'It is premature to be too certain about the mechanism by which vaccines might reduce dementia risk, but these observations provide further incentive for those eligible to turn up for their scheduled vaccination visits to prevent the unpleasant and potentially serious and life-threatening infections for which they were designed, but with the added possible benefit of a longer dementia-free lifespan. What's not to like?' Pollard commented.