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Rod Stewart forced to cancel milestone concert

<p>Rod Stewart has been forced to cancel a milestone concert after falling ill. </p> <p>The 79-year-old rockstar shared an emotional message with his fans on Instagram saying he has had to pull out of his 200th show as part of his Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace due to strep throat.</p> <p>In his post, Stewart said he was "desperately sorry" and "absolutely gutted" over the cancellation.</p> <p>"I'm desperately sorry to miss this 200th show celebration," Stewart began. "Most people can work with strep throat but obviously not me."</p> <p>"I'm absolutely gutted. I've been looking forward to this concert for so long. My deepest regrets for any inconvenience this has caused."</p> <p>Stewart finished the post by adding that he'll be returning to the stage next year to make it up to fans.</p> <p>"Thankfully we'll now be returning in 2025 and I hope to see you all there," he finished, adding a heartbroken emoji.</p> <p>Just days before sharing news of the cancellation, Stewart announced his plans to extend his Las Vegas residency into 2025.</p> <p>"Vegas, I'm having too much fun for this to end so we are coming back for an encore!" he said, adding that he will be playing shows until May next year.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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What’s the difference between ‘strep throat’ and a sore throat? We’re developing a vaccine for one of them

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-davis-1535254">Kim Davis</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/murdoch-childrens-research-institute-1027">Murdoch Children's Research Institute</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alma-fulurija-1535255">Alma Fulurija</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/telethon-kids-institute-1608">Telethon Kids Institute</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/myra-hardy-1535253">Myra Hardy</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/murdoch-childrens-research-institute-1027">Murdoch Children's Research Institute</a></em></p> <p>the time of the year for coughs, colds and sore throats. So you might have heard people talk about having a “strep throat”.</p> <p>But what is that? Is it just a bad sore throat that goes away by itself in a day or two? Should you be worried?</p> <p>Here’s what we know about the similarities and differences between strep throat and a sore throat, and why they matter.</p> <h2>How are they similar?</h2> <p>It’s difficult to tell the difference between a sore throat and strep throat as they look and feel similar.</p> <p>People usually have a fever, a bright red throat and sometimes painful lumps in the neck (swollen lymph nodes). A throat swab can help diagnose strep throat, but the results can take a few days.</p> <p>Thankfully, both types of sore throat usually get better <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8655103/">by themselves</a>.</p> <h2>How are they different?</h2> <p>Most sore throats are caused by viruses such as common cold viruses, the flu (influenza virus), or the virus that causes glandular fever (Epstein-Barr virus).</p> <p>These viral sore throats can occur at any age. Antibiotics don’t work against viruses so if you have a viral sore throat, you won’t get better faster if you take antibiotics. You might even have some unwanted <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK401243/#:%7E:text=People%20may%20then%20wonder%20whether,infection%2C%20such%20as%20bacterial%20tonsillitis.">antibiotic side-effects</a>.</p> <p>But strep throat is caused by <em>Streptococcus pyogenes</em> bacteria, also known as strep A. Strep throat is most common in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2217/fmb-2021-0077">school-aged children</a>, but can affect other age groups. In some cases, you may need antibiotics to avoid some rare but serious complications.</p> <p>In fact, the potential for complications is one key difference between a viral sore throat and strep throat.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=405&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=405&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=405&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=508&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=508&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=508&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure> <p>Generally, a viral sore throat is <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6867">very unlikely</a> to cause complications (one exception is those caused by Epstein-Barr virus which has been associated with illnesses such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3893202/">chronic fatigue syndrome</a>, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj8222">multiple sclerosis</a> and certain <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(22)00404-7/fulltext">cancers</a>).</p> <p>But strep A can cause invasive disease, a rare but serious complication. This is when bacteria living somewhere on the body (usually the skin or throat) get into another part of the body where there shouldn’t be bacteria, such as the bloodstream. This can make people extremely sick.</p> <p>Invasive strep A infections and deaths have been <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON429">rising in recent years</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10786649/">around the world</a>, especially in young children and older adults. This may be due to a number of factors such as increased social mixing at this stage of the COVID pandemic and an increase in circulating common cold viruses. But overall the reasons behind the increase in invasive strep A infections are not clear.</p> <p>Another rare but serious side effect of strep A is autoimmune disease. This is when the body’s immune system makes antibodies that react against its own cells.</p> <p>The most common example is <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rheumatic-heart-disease">rheumatic heart disease</a>. This is when the body’s immune system damages the heart valves a few weeks or months after a strep throat or skin infection.</p> <p><a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2102074?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&amp;rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&amp;rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed">Around the world</a> more than 40 million people live with rheumatic heart disease and more than 300,000 die from its complications every year, mostly in developing countries.</p> <p>However, parts of Australia have some of the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.5694/mja2.50682">highest rates</a> of rheumatic heart disease in the world. <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/heart-stroke-vascular-diseases/hsvd-facts/contents/all-heart-stroke-and-vascular-disease/arf-and-rhd">More than 5,300</a> Indigenous Australians live with it.</p> <h2>Why do some people get sicker than others?</h2> <p>We know strep A infections and rheumatic heart disease <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/82_2012_280">are more common</a> in low socioeconomic communities where poverty and overcrowding lead to increased strep A transmission and disease.</p> <p>However, we don’t fully understand why some people only get a mild infection with strep throat while others get very sick with invasive disease.</p> <p>We also don’t understand why some people get rheumatic heart disease after strep A infections when most others don’t. Our research team is trying to find out.</p> <h2>How about a vaccine for strep A?</h2> <p>There is no strep A vaccine but <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6028081/">many</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8545125/">groups</a> in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6495378/">Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7902606/">New Zealand</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3620221/">and</a> <a href="https://www.clinicalkey.com.au/#!/content/playContent/1-s2.0-S0264410X19316457?returnurl=https:%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0264410X19316457%3Fshowall%3Dtrue&amp;referrer=https:%2F%2Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F">worldwide</a> are working towards one.</p> <p>For instance, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Telethon Kids Institute have formed the <a href="https://www.asavi.org.au">Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative</a> to develop strep A vaccines. There’s also a <a href="https://savac.ivi.int/">global consortium</a> working towards the same goal.</p> <p>Companies such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10747066/">Vaxcyte</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7696035/">GlaxoSmithKline</a> have also been developing strep A vaccines.</p> <h2>What if I have a sore throat?</h2> <p>Most sore throats will get better by themselves. But if yours doesn’t get better in a few days or you have ongoing fever, see your GP.</p> <p>Your GP can examine you, consider running some tests and help you decide if you need antibiotics.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/230292/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-davis-1535254">Kim Davis</a>, General paediatrician and paediatric infectious diseases specialist, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/murdoch-childrens-research-institute-1027">Murdoch Children's Research Institute</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alma-fulurija-1535255">Alma Fulurija</a>, Immunologist and the Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative project lead, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/telethon-kids-institute-1608">Telethon Kids Institute</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/myra-hardy-1535253">Myra Hardy</a>, Postdoctoral Researcher, Infection, Immunity and Global Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/murdoch-childrens-research-institute-1027">Murdoch Children's Research Institute</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-difference-between-strep-throat-and-a-sore-throat-were-developing-a-vaccine-for-one-of-them-230292">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

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Toddler survives ordeal with flesh-eating bug

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A mother in Melbourne has spoken out about the terrifying ordeal her family went through after her daughter almost lost her leg to a flesh-eating infection caused by Strep A.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At just 11 months old, Eden contracted the bug after a bout of severe colds that affected her for weeks.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the night she was rushed to hospital with a fever, it was discovered she had Strep A that was affecting her leg.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We were obviously very scared because it was a very dangerous bug that got into her system quickly,” Eden’s mother Tania O’Meara </span><a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/melbourne-toddler-almost-loses-her-leg-to-strep-a-as-murdoch-childrens-research-institute-trial-vaccines-c-2808830"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told 7NEWS</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Luckily the doctors were able to save her leg, but Eden was left scarring on her right calf.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It was a very precarious point in her life,” O’Meara said.</span></p> <p><strong>The need for a vaccine</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dr Josh Osowicki from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute said Strep A is a “high-priority” bug for vaccine development.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As part of their efforts, researchers at the institute are deliberately infecting healthy volunteers with the bacteria to trial different vaccines and treatments.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We’ve kept the participants in an inpatient environment and we had really close clinical support and we’ve watched them really closely,” Dr Osowicki said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We hope the vaccine can stop other children going through what Eden went through,” O’Meara said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Strep A causes a lot of different disease, from a strep throat or a mild skin infection to really severe and dangerous infections,” Dr Osowicki said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The infection kills more than 500,000 people globally every year, with young children, the elderly, and pregnant women especially at risk.</span></p> <p><strong>Image credit: 7NEWS</strong></p>

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