Oxfordshire MS Therapy Centre
the Spread of Coronavirus
- Coronavirus is a virus similar to the flu
virus, which has the same symptoms and effects & spreads the same way.
- Our Centre users are generally more
vulnerable to developing a more serious level of symptoms, therefore,
prevention is more important.
- Coronavirus is a droplet infection, and
source of the infection is from a cough/sneeze, therefore catch all coughs
& sneezes (in a paper hanky or sleeve etc), and immediately bin or wash
droplets quickly settle onto the surfaces below, therefore:
your breath (if you can) for a while if someone coughs or sneezes to let the
wash surfaces to prevent picking the virus up on hands
virus gets on your hands, therefore:
wash hands after touching surfaces
not to touch your face with your hands, thus transferring the virus to mouth
- Wash hands for 20 seconds (sing Happy
Birthday twice!) with soap & water concentrating on wrists, between the
fingers and around rings.
- Soap & water are just as good as hand
gels, detergents, antiseptics – in fact, if available soap & water is
better as it actually washes and not just kills the virus, this doesn’t mean
that there isn’t a place for hand gels.
- Clean hands on arrival at the centre, thus
preventing the virus coming into the centre (gel is provided as easier on
- Sign & symptoms – the same as flu and
normally starts with a raised temperature & dry cough.
- If you get symptoms – call 111 and isolate
- Do not come to the centre if you think you
may have been exposed to the virus.
Coronavirus Public Information: Please follow all guidance being provided by HM Government and NHS regarding the containment of the virus.
The news is changing rapidly, please keep up to date with the national and local developments.
At the Centre we have provided additional hand sanitisers, tissues, waste bins, and displayed posters reminding people to regularly wash their hands along with the “Catch it, Kill it, Bin it” message.
If you are feeling unwell, or are in any doubt, please do not attend the Centre and follow the advice on the NHS 111 website or by calling the NHS 111 Helpline.
Source Multiple Sclerosis International Federation: The coronavirus and MS – what you need to know
The ‘novel coronavirus’ (recently named by the World Health Organization as COVID-19) is a respiratory illness that has not previously been seen in humans. COVID-19 is a strain of coronavirus that was first detected in China in December 2019, and has since spread to other parts of the world.
What does COVID-19 mean for people living with MS?
As this strain of the coronavirus is new, we still need to learn more about how it may affect people with MS.
Many disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for MS work by suppressing or modifying the immune system. We know that people with MS who are receiving these therapies can face an increased risk of complications related to viral infections.
If you are taking a DMT and are either exposed to COVID-19 or are confirmed to have the COVID-19 infection, please contact your neurologist or other medical professionals. Read on.
Source Multiple Sclerosis News Today: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients switching from Tysabri (natalizumab) to other disease-modifying therapies may have an increased risk of disease activity, though the risk is lower if the switch is limited to three months, a study found.
The results were published in an article, “Effect of switching from natalizumab to moderate- vs high-efficacy DMT in clinical practice,” in the journal Neurology Clinical Practice.
Tysabri, marketed by Biogen, is an antibody treatment that blocks immune system cells from moving into the brain and spinal cord. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for MS in 2004, but was pulled from the market after being linked to a rare neurological disorder called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Read on.
Source Multiple Sclerosis News Today: AB Science‘s masitinib significantly slowed disability progression in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) and non-active secondary progressive MS (SPMS) at a lower dose of 4.5 mg/kg a day, top-line results from a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial show.
Masitinib, formerly known as AB1010, is an oral therapy that inhibits the activity of cells in the innate immune system, specifically mast cells, microglia, and macrophages. In doing so, the therapy is expected to limit the inflammatory processes that cause damage to the nervous system in MS.
It may also have applications in other conditions, including other neurological diseases and certain cancers. Read on.
100 club winners for January
1st prize: Shirley Ray
2nd prize: Julia Gower
3rd prize: Sue Doran
from the MS National Therapy Centres
If you have travelled to any of the
countries affected by the Corona virus please follow the protocol for
self-isolation for 14 days.
If you have direct contact with anyone
who either has Coronavirus or who has been to a HIGH RISK area, please stay
away from the Centre for 14 days.
Wash your hands with soap and water
frequently. If you cough or sneeze follow the standard hand hygiene advice:
Catch it, bin it, kill it.
constantly evolving and everybody is advised to follow the news and check www.nhs.uk or updates
Source The Guardian: Plan aims to relieve strain on hospitals by offering a visit within two hours.
Older people and the very sick will be visited within two hours by a “rapid response team” of health and care staff under new NHS plans to relieve the strain on overcrowded hospitals.
The teams will include nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers and social care staff working for NHS trusts and local councils in England.
The “urgent community response” teams will operate 365 days a year. They will help older people and those with complex care needs whose health has suddenly deteriorated – through a fall, infection or exacerbation of an illness – try to avoid ending up in a hospital. Read on.
Source MS Society: This online course will help you find ways to manage your MS fatigue and explain it to other people.
It’s made up of 6 sessions that should take around 20 minutes each. In between the sessions are exercises for you to do, to help you think about your own fatigue.
The course works best if you leave at least three days in between each session to do the exercises. Bookmark this page so you can find it again easily. Read on.
Source Independent Living: The Court of Appeal has recently rejected the Department for Work and Pensions’ challenge to the High Court decisions that protected claimants who received severe disability premium against a drop in income when they were moved to Universal Credit.
Two disabled individuals, known as TP and AR, brought the cases when their benefit was reduced by £180 a month. They had to claim universal credit rather than staying on legacy benefits after moving into a different local authority area.
Will the DWP go all the way to the Supreme Court?
The DWP has said that it is considering the judgment carefully, before deciding whether or not to pursue the matter into the Supreme Court.
They say that they are continuing to make transitional payments to people who were previously receiving the severe disability premium and that more than 15,000 people have already been paid £51.5 million. Read on.