Virology swabbing provides critical information on which respiratory viruses are circulating and is used by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to measure vaccine effectiveness. This information is also critical for NHS planning and provides the World Health Organisation (WHO) key data that feeds into global vaccine strain selection for the next round of vaccination.

Eligibility:  Any patient with symptoms of any acute respiratory infection (ARI) with its onset within the last 10 days.

Consent:  Patients give verbal consent for sampling. A patient information leaflet (PIL) is available for patients.

ASYMPTOMATIC is a study to find out how best to use inhaled steroids for children with mild asthma. Inhaled steroids prevent asthma attacks when taken every day. However, it is unknown whether children with mild asthma need to take inhaled steroids every day. The best way to find out is to do a research study, like ours. The study aims to compare two groups of children, who have mild asthma (rather than moderate or severe). This means they haven’t had many asthma attacks this year or caused lots of problems with their health.

(1) children taking inhaled steroids every day (daily) with (2) children taking them only when they have asthma symptoms (symptom-driven). We want to see whether taking inhaled steroids in a ‘symptom-driven’ way is a safe and effective way to prevent asthma attacks.

Relief aims to find out if using an inhaler which has both the steroid and reliever drugs leads to better asthma control. The main problem in asthma, including ‘mild’ asthma, is inflammation in the airways of the lungs. Low dose inhaled steroids (usually brown inhalers) reduce this inflammation which is why they are the most important treatment for asthma. Blue, reliever inhalers, are used to help relieve symptoms but they have no effect on the inflammation. The study aims to determine;

• How effective a combination inhaler might be versus standard care for symptom relief in mild asthma

• Overall costs and savings of the two treatments

• Health care providers and patients views of the new way to treat mild asthma.

Snackactivity is testing a new approach to helping people become more physically active called Snacktivity™. This approach encourages people to do short ‘snacks’ of physical activity throughout the day to improve their health and well-being. People have become less physically active and spend a lot of time sitting. Being physically active reduces your risk of developing illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and can even improve your mood. This study aims to explore whether the Snacktivity™ approach helps people to become more active and is aimed at everyone regardless of their age, fitness, ability or disability. An ‘activity snack’ lasts between 2-5 minutes and can easily be fitted into daily life e.g., using the stairs instead of a lift, taking an extra short walk and leg raises while watching the television.

South Asian people have some of the highest rates of heart disease, diabetes, and poor health in the UK. Genes & Health is a research study set up to help fight against these and other major diseases. 

By involving large numbers of local Bangladeshi and Pakistani people, the study hopes to find new ways of improving health for communities in the UK and worldwide. The long term benefits will include better understanding, prevention, and treatments for disease, for example diabetes and heart disease, with specific relevance to Bangladeshi and Pakistani people. To do this the study requires you to sign a consent form and provide a small sample of your saliva (spit).