Monday, April 28, 2025
Blog Page 344

Common asthma drug lowers risk of Covid-19 hospitalisation, Oxford study finds

Daisy Aitchison
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Common asthma drug lowers risk of Covid-19 hospitalisation, Oxford study finds

A study from Oxford University has shown that a common asthma treatment can reduce the risk of hospitalisations by 90% among Covid-19 patients. 

The research, which was conducted in partnership with the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and AstraZeneca, involved 146 participants. Half of those involved were given inhaled budesonide, which is usually used to treat the symptoms of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, while the other half received standard patient care. 

Findings from the study, which were published earlier this month, suggested that over a 28-day period, the drug could reduce the risk of patients needing hospital treatment by 90%. The trial was sparked by data which suggested that patients who used inhaled steroids for other medical conditions were less likely to be admitted to hospital with Covid-19. 

Professor Mona Bafadhel, a member of the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford and a Respiratory Consultant also working at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, led the research. 

Commenting on the findings, she said: “There have been important breakthroughs in hospitalised COVID-19 patients, but equally important is treating early disease to prevent clinical deterioration and the need for urgent care and hospitalisation, especially to the billions of people worldwide who have limited access to hospital care. 

“The vaccine programmes are really exciting, but we know that these will take some time to reach everyone across the world. I am heartened that a relatively safe, widely available and well studied medicine such as an inhaled steroid could have an impact on the pressures we are experiencing during the pandemic.” 

The study comes alongside separate research from the university which has suggested that the use of the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab can significantly reduce the number of deaths of patients hospitalised by Covid-19. The medication reduced mortality by a third for patients requiring simple oxygen, and nearly a half for those on more invasive ventilation.

In addition to the fall in hospitalisations, Professor Bafadhel’s research also demonstrated that budesonide could be effective in reducing the number of patients who require urgent care as a result of the disease, as well as reducing recovery time from the onset of symptoms. 

Professor Bafadhel spoke about the significance of these additional conclusions: “Although not the primary outcome of study, this is an important finding. I am encouraged to see the reduction in persistent symptoms at 14 and 28 days after treatment with budesonide. Persistent symptoms after the initial COVID-19 illness have emerged as a long-term problem. Any intervention which could address this would be a major step forward.” 

Image Credit: NIAID. License: CC BY-SA 2.0.

10 Things Blair Waldorf taught Us About Fashion

Katie Tootill
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10 Things Blair Waldorf taught Us About Fashion

Calling all Upper East Siders… the return of Gossip Girl is on the horizon and we can barely contain our excitement for another era of secrets, sex, and scandal. Gossip Girl shaped us into who we are, and although there can only be one Chuck Bass, the reboot is sure to take over our lives once again. In the meantime, let’s remember the icon that is Blair Waldorf and everything she taught us about fashion over the five years she blessed our screens.

1)Sophistication above all: From grabbing coffee with S to a casual shopping spree along 5th Avenue, Blair always looks immaculate. Her sophisticated style is timeless and accessorised, of course, with pearls.

2)Having a bad day? Wear a beret… (or any hair accessory for that matter): Berets aren’t just for the French, and if anyone pulls off la mode parisienne, it’s Blair. A headband or stylish hat is the perfect way to complete and coordinate any outfit!

3)Overdressing is a myth: B has stunned in Elie Saab, Vera Wang, Oscar De La Renta: you name it, she’s worn it. She certainly knows how to dress up, yet somehow look effortlessly put together. Investing time into your appearance is a form of self-care, and any occasion, no matter how small, is an opportunity to dazzle.

4)Lingerie is everything: From chemises and Agent Provocateur corsets to her iconic lace stockings, Queen B certainly has a lingerie collection any girl would dream of. She taught us that underwear is just as important as the outfit, and that wearing it for yourself is one of the most empowering things you can do.

5)Embrace bright colours: Nothing catches the eye more than vibrance, especially during the summer months. Mix and match colours with your accessories and makeup for a stand-out look that nobody will forget. The same goes for prints – don’t be afraid to branch out of your comfort zone! After all, if there’s anything Blair Waldorf taught us, it’s that mainstream is boring.

6)But equally, monochrome is chic: You can’t go wrong with a monochromatic ensemble, especially with a pop of colour- be that a lime green clutch or red stilettos. Whether you’re begging God for forgiveness after having “surrendered your virtue to a self-absorbed ass” (s1 ep8), or attending the highly anticipated Hampton’s White Party, B’s got you covered.

7)Classy outerwear will change your life: A winter coat is a very personal choice, but Blair Waldorf seems to have you covered in every department. Whether you’re inclined towards the staple Burberry trench coat or you prefer something a bit more ‘out there’, throughout all six seasons of the show Blair’s winter wardrobe covers it all. Versatile, stylish and, most importantly, warm; classy outerwear makes it look like you have your shit together, even on the days where you don’t.

8)Don’t underestimate the power of a blazer: Timeless, preppy and chic. Even if you have no clue what you’re doing, a blazer makes it look like you do, which is basically the same thing, right?

9)If a man has great style, forgive him when he sells you for a hotel: Yes, it was a morally questionable decision. But ask yourself, will you ever meet someone who wears a Hermès silk scarf and Berluti leather loafers quite as he does? Sadly, I’m not aware of where you can purchase your own Chuck Bass, but if anyone is, please do share this information with the world. 

10)Ultimately, even on your worst days, your elegance radiates from within: Whether you’re halfway through fifth week and crippled with deadlines or heading to a 9am, hungover and wearing last night’s clothes – B shows us that sophistication comes from within. Even after marrying the wrong man and having a breakdown in the middle of JFK, Blair pulls off the questionable attire in true Waldorf style, bringing hope to us all as we attend online lectures in pyjamas, hoping our tutors don’t notice.

Artwork by Rachel Jung

Ten colleges not paying real Living Wage

Rachel Muir
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Ten colleges not paying real Living Wage

A Cherwell investigation has found that at least ten Oxford colleges were still not paying the real Living Wage of £9.30 per hour to all of their permanent employees and casual workers as of 16th December 2020.

Balliol, Brasenose, Exeter, Keble, St Anthony’s, St Catherine’s, St Edmund Hall, St John’s, Trinity, and Wolfson were all paying their lowest-earning adult workers a basic wage of less than £9.30 per hour, whilst Magdalen and Wadham have not yet responded. 

Despite the basic rate being less than £9.30 per hour, some colleges pointed out that they offered a number of benefits which provided for a total package that exceeded the real Living Wage. Wolfson College, for instance, listed amongst a long list of benefits a £200 Christmas bonus to all staff, meals whilst on duty, as well as 11 holiday days over the statutory allowance, which they claim is the equivalent to £792 per annum for a full-time employee paid £9 per hour. A spokesperson from Wolfson College told Cherwell that the basic benefits used by all staff are worth “almost £7,000, which translates into an additional £3.30 per hour on average.”

Balliol, Brasenose, Exeter, St Anthony’s, St Edmund Hall, and St John’s College stressed that it is only casual workers who are not paid the real Living Wage, and that all permanent employees are paid at least £9.30 per hour. In some cases, holiday uplift for casual workers effectively took the hourly rate to above £9.30 per hour.

Philip Parker, Chair of the Estates Bursars Committee for the Conference of Colleges told Cherwell: “College employees receive generous benefits that are not included in hourly pay calculations, including longer holidays, valuable pensions and free meals. In addition, the college data will often include students who work for the college in vacations, for example to support outreach work or commercial conferences; these students usually get subsidised accommodation.”

Cherwell’s investigation has also shown that at least 17 colleges and PPHs now have formal accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation, which means that they are formally committed to paying the real Living Wage.

The real Living Wage is different from the government’s national living wage, which was introduced in April 2016 for all staff over 25 and is currently set at £8.72 per hour. The Living Wage Foundation’s website states: “This wage [the national living wage] is not calculated according to what employees and their families need to live. […] The real Living Wage rates are higher because they are independently-calculated based on what people need to get by.” Furthermore, the real Living Wage covers all staff aged 18 and over.

The real Living Wage was increased in November 2020 to £9.50 per hour, meaning that the 17 colleges and PPHs who are accredited Living Wage Employers will have to increase their minimum hourly wage to £9.50 by 9th May 2021 at the latest. Several other colleges, despite not having formal accreditation, say that they are committed to paying in line with the recommendations of the Living Wage Foundation.

The Oxford Living Wage (OLW) is an hourly minimum wage which recognises the high cost of living in Oxford and is set annually at 95% of the London Living Wage. The University of Oxford announced last February that it was committing to paying all its employees at least the Oxford Living Wage. However, since Oxford colleges are independent employers, they were left to make their own decisions about the OLW. All Souls, Blackfriars, Campion Hall, Green Templeton, Kellogg, Merton, St Benet’s, and St Cross College were all paying at least the Oxford Living Wage of £10.21 per hour to all their workers and employees as of 16th December 2020.

A spokesperson from Oxford City Council told Cherwell: “The Oxford Living Wage has been created to promote liveable earnings for workers. It reflects the fact that Oxford is one of the most expensive cities to live in the UK, and helps accredited employers demonstrate they value their workforce. With expensive housing in the city, many workers have to choose between spending more money to live in the city, or more on travel to get to work.”

Many colleges are still far off paying all their workers a base rate of the OWL. As of 16 December 2020, 53% of adult employees, including casual workers, employed by Corpus Christi College in non-academic and non-administrative positions were paid below £10.21 per hour. At Lady Margaret Hall this figure was 53.98%, at St Catherine’s 56%, and at St Edmund Hall 59%.

A spokesperson from the Oxford City Living Wage Campaign (OCLWC) told Cherwell: “Most of the low paid, insecurely employed (“temporary”) staff who work in Oxford University Colleges are working class, female, and BAME people. Many are migrant workers who do not speak English as a first language.

“One of the main lessons of the coronavirus crisis has been to re-evaluate the status of so called unskilled and semi-skilled workers now that their economic contribution is shown to be “essential” and pivotal to the functioning of society and the economy.”

The lack of conferences this past year will have impacted some college staff, with many colleges usually offering conference bonuses for staff involved in delivering these. St Anne’s College told Cherwell: “The college under normal circumstances pays a cash bonus to some of its lower paid bursary staff. This did not occur in 2020 because of the effect of the pandemic on its conference business.”

In contrast, some colleges have recognised the negative impact of the pandemic on staff and offered additional benefits as a result. Green Templeton paid a pandemic bonus of at least £100 in November 2020, whilst Linacre paid a flat rate bonus of £500 in November 2020 to “all staff in employment on 1 November 2020 who were on a contract of 1 year or more in duration and were of university grade 9 or below […] in recognition of the commitment of all staff to overcoming the challenges caused by COVID 19.”

Philip Parker from the Conference of Colleges told Cherwell: “staff have been supported through the pandemic with jobs kept open and full pay maintained for furloughed staff, despite the very significant losses of revenue that colleges have incurred.”

The OCLWC called on “all Oxford University Colleges and institutions to harmonise their employment protocols around common wage rates at or above the OLW and to extend full employment protection to everyone who works at the University of Oxford, it’s colleges, partner institutions or [as] contractors.

“Such reforms would also lead to greater efficiency and provide visible and statistical evidence of Oxford University Colleges’ desire to change and redress historical injustices.”

Image credit: SJPrice / Pixabay

Some students can return to university from 8th March

Daisy Aitchison
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Some students can return to university from 8th March

In a statement to the House of Commons today, the Prime Minister has announced that some university students will be able to return for in-person teaching on the 8th March, while others will have to wait until the end of the Easter holidays to find out when they can return.

Students who are undertaking practical courses, or require specialist facilities for their degrees will be able to return from the 8th March. This will also apply to any course which requires onsite access. Higher education guidance released on Gov.uk today appears to confirm this: “In addition to the students who returned to in-person teaching and learning in January, providers can resume in-person teaching and learning for undergraduate and postgraduate students who are studying practical or practice-based (including creative arts) subjects and require specialist equipment and facilities from 8 March”. The definition of “practical” has not been provided.

However, all other students will continue to work remotely for the time being. Options for a more general return to in-person teaching will be reviewed by the end of Easter: “The government will review, by the end of the Easter holidays, the options for timing of the return of remaining students. This review will take account of the latest data and will be a key part of the wider roadmap steps. Students and providers will be given a week’s notice ahead of any further return.”

The guidance for higher education providers continues that: “Providers should not offer in-person teaching before then, or later if further guidance to this effect is issued, and should encourage students to remain at their current accommodation until the resumption of their in-person teaching, wherever possible.”

The Prime Minister said that all the steps he outlined in his statement would be dependent on four tests, including the success of the vaccine rollout, the number of hospital admissions and deaths, the amount of pressure on the NHS and the impact of future mutations.

The first stage of the government’s plan for exiting lockdown involves the reopening of all schools on the 8th March, and from the 29th March meetings of up to 6 individuals or two households will be allowed outdoors. Hospitality and non-essential retail should reopen on the 12th April as part of the second stage in the government’s plan to ease lockdown restrictions. This will include hairdressers, public buildings, indoor leisure, alcohol takeaways and beer gardens.

The Prime Minister announced that the rule of six would be scrapped in May in outdoor settings in favour of a limit of thirty at gatherings. In indoor settings the maximum number of people in a group will remain six. Finally, in June the last restrictions should be lifted, with the final sectors of the economy, such as nightclubs, reopened.

In an email to students today, the university said: “The UK Government is expected to confirm arrangements for the end of the current national lockdown today (Monday 22 February), including plans for the return of students to universities. Once published, the University and colleges will urgently review the guidance and provide information for students about arrangements for Trinity term and about returning to Oxford. We expect to be in a position to write to all students by the end of this week (Friday 26 February). However, the University will not have prior sight of the guidance, and we appreciate your patience as we work through the details.”

Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street.

Zoom cuppers – a new sub-genre of theatre?

Agnes Halladay
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Zoom cuppers – a new sub-genre of theatre?

I was apprehensive about whether or not to participate in a Zoom cuppers. However, something about the “virtual sub-genre emerging out of pandemic darkness”, as Arifa Akbar (writing for the Guardian) has stated, excited me. This was an entirely new experience, a mode of art barely explored before 2020 and something that I believed would benefit me to be a part of.  

Thus, receiving the news that a group from my college were still taking part and that there was room for me amongst their ranks was comforting. The play, named ‘A*’, written by Leah O’Grady, followed the life of Pip, a sixth-former coping with the pressures of applying and being rejected from University in the wake of her friend’s death.

As in any theatre, playing out sensitive themes can be intimidating, especially to young actors. Over Zoom, this anxiety grew ten-fold. Met with scheduling issues, the distractions of home life, interjections from family, and being physically such a distance from one another, I felt the fear of seeming under-prepared and over-acting.

Without the means to use gesture or physicality properly, I was left acting like Emma Watson in the first few Harry Potter films: my eyebrows moving up, down and around with an intensity that was entirely unfounded. Things such as eye-contact (which I had totally under appreciated as a form of communication) became weirdly complicated, every actor being blindly aware that each was in a different formation on the others’ screens, many lines meant to convey intimacy simply having to be projected “out”, wherever that may be.  

Having no way of exiting the “stage”, Leah recommended covering our cameras with blue tac every time we left a scene. This initially gave the play a strange atmosphere of being on Nickelodeon or Disney Channel, each character seemingly punching the screen at every transition, until we eventually became slightly more elegant in our practice of “entering the wings”.  

Buffering was the enemy. To wait until whoever’s Wi-Fi returned or to continue the script was the question. Many times awkward silences ensued in which nobody quite knew the protocol. However, I occasionally found this to work to my advantage: forgetting a line or a cue is not such a punishable offence if you say your connection was lost. 

Despite these issues, problems were eventually ironed out through the true beauty of online performances: multiple chances to record. My eyebrows finally calmed down and the process was in fact incredibly helpful to develop subtleties of expression and tone of voice. The irony of being so intimately placed, face-to-face next to one another on-screen, whilst being miles away in reality made for interesting dynamics of conversation, and my group were proud of our work when we finished our final take. Leah, our director and writer simply stated: “it was really nice having a project that I’d been working on actually read and developed!” So, whilst the exhilaration and the glamour of the stage can wait for next year, I am glad that I was able to involve myself in what we may one day look back on as a lost and fleeting sub-genre of theatre.

The comedy bug

Angus Moore
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The comedy bug

Standing up in front of a crowd and telling jokes: for most, it’s their idea of hell, but for some, it’s where they feel most at home.

When people ask what it’s like, I often say that it’s like telling a funny story to a group of friends in the pub: except they’re not your friends, you’re not in a pub, and your hands are sweating. No sympathy laughs from your mate when the joke doesn’t quite land; no in-jokes to fall back on; no new haircut to make fun of. Comedy is a savage mistress.

Arriving at Oxford in 2018, I joined the Oxford Revue, performing my first show in Hilary of my first year. Put together with 5 others whom I barely knew, we had to write a show which would be funny enough for a 5-night run at the BT: the zenith of any Oxford performer’s career. Some sketches you write are good, some are bad. Some are really, really bad.

Amongst the ones I submitted for the show was a sketch where a toothpaste is so powerfully whitening that a man is blinded by his own teeth. There was another where a toothbrush factory begins manufacturing brushes to brush the toothbrushes themselves. I don’t know why the dental sector had such a powerful impact on my creative output, but it’s safe to say that neither of those sketches made it into the final cut: apparently the realm of dental comedy was already ‘saturated enough’.

It can be humbling to bring your work to a roomful of others. It’s essentially saying ‘look at what I wrote here – isn’t it really funny?’ So, when it turns out to be not as funny as you initially thought – when you were wiping away the tears of laughter as you typed it up – it can be tough, and even humiliating.

However, it’s the bad ones which make you feel so good when you write one that lands: the affirmation you feel when other people tell you ‘this is funny’ is like no other. Not to mention when the thing which you have written gets laughs from a real audience of real people. It’s like getting a big laugh amongst your mates but on crack.

Performing in Oxford was one thing, but going elsewhere felt like different gravy. The Revue go up to the Edinburgh Fringe every year, and I performed both sketch and stand up there in 2019. I remember walking up to the microphone, about to do my first ever stand-up set, thinking ‘How has someone let me do this? Is this allowed? Where’s my mum?’: I was just a man, in a t-shirt, standing there and telling some jokes.

Despite all the challenges that come with doing comedy, I think it’s easier than most people realise. It’s not some god-given charm or natural wit, but it is far more a learnt art: after a while, you realise what people tend to find funny, and what people don’t. For instance, the elderly audience of the Edinburgh Fringe don’t particularly enjoy too many jokes on poo and wee; they do, however, love jokes about Joanna Lumley and Milton Keynes. Each to their own.

Nonetheless, comedy still has the ability to be beautifully unpredictable. For the Fringe, I wrote what I thought was a fairly average sketch, depicting a scene between two friends, a wolf and an elk. In the scene, the wolf has mistakenly eaten the elk’s mother.

Wolf: Yeah, I guess I must have got the wrong one. I swear I asked one of them which one Gary was.

Elk: Yeah, you did. My sister pointed him out to you. [He points]

Wolf: Ah right. Ok yeah. I think what might have happened here is that, because the elk hoof doesn’t lend itself particularly well to pointing, I may have thought she was pointing at Gary, when she was in fact pointing at Mrs Elk, your mother.

Elk: [he examines hoof] Ah yes. Yes, I think you may be right. Damn our cloven hooves!

Wolf: Ah what a pickle!

Elk: How silly! Well no worries, wolf, not your fault. Just try not to do it again!

Wolf: I’ll do my best!

This sketch, which I wrote after seeing a nature documentary, turned out to be by far the most popular one each day. Others were more polished and more sensical, but it was the absurd which appeared to capture people’s imaginations: such is comedy’s ability to unite people in the strangest of ways.

So, where are we now? Comedy in Covid times is, like everything, pretty difficult. Because of the limitations of social distancing, shows have been pretty much non-existent, and thus laughter – a comedian’s one real affirmation – is gone. The Oxford Revue have moved their content online, which has presented its own challenges. Writing together in groups over Teams isn’t the most seamless of journeys: the bad Wi-Fi, the delays and the lack of proper eye contact all makes it difficult to cultivate an authentic, natural comic atmosphere. Because comedy, to me, often strikes at the very heart of the human condition, it requires a certain human connection which is far more difficult to garner on-screen. Nonetheless, we do our best: we release videos every Monday on Facebook and Instagram, and have welcomed a new cohort of writers. Likewise, we ran a successful set of comedy workshops for women in 3rd Week.

Who knows when this thing will come to an end? But, when it does, you can bet on me being on stage once more, with sweaty thighs and a gentle shake, asking myself how on earth I got there.

Image Credit: Justin Lim.

University confirms record low 3 cases this week

Sasha Mills
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University confirms record low 3 cases this week

The University has confirmed 3 cases of Covid-19 amongst staff and students from Early Alert Service tests for the 13th of February to the 19th of February with a positivity rate of 4.1% and 73 tests administered in total. This marks the lowest figures this term for positive test results, tests administered, and positivity rate. In 5th week of last term, 126 positive cases were reported. 

The number of tests administered to staff and students through the Early Alert Service has been slowly falling as term has progressed, and both the number of positive tests and the positivity rate of tests has remained low since 1st week. This data does not include figures from the lateral flow tests offered to students at the start of term.

From the 15th of February to the 21st of February 163 people tested positive in Oxford, according to UK government data, with a rate of 101.7 cases per 100k people in the population. This marks a 4.1% decrease from the previous 7 days of cases. 

Oxford City Council are currently supporting a campaign to make the vaccine more accessible to the community, over concerns in particular of migrants not registering with their GP due to fear of deportation under the government’s ‘Hostile Environment’ policy. Over 140 organisations have signed a statement urging the government to prioritise vaccine accessibility.

Pandemic Projects: Oxford and Beyond

Johannes Moehrle
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Pandemic Projects: Oxford and Beyond

For many of us students, this term will happen from home and from behind our screens. In most cases, this means less social interaction, which has left all of us with more time to spend on binging Netflix’s recent releases (Lupin, Bridgerton, or The Crown’s last season, depending on your persuasion), or on Instagram, getting fed up after seeing thousands of Bernie Sanders in just as many different places. As well as the Netflixing and Instagramming, though, many students have also used this time to take action on issues close to their hearts.

Larissa Koerber, a first year Law student at Oxford, is one of these students. Throughout the pandemic, she has significantly developed her Instagram account, @Sheisthehero. She first created this account during her gap year, with the ambition of showcasing interviews with inspiring women, both from her home country of Switzerland and from abroad. Amongst her chosen personalities are entrepreneurs, designers, chocolatiers, and politicians – content includes inspirational writing, stylish graphics, and a regular ‘hero of the day’. Finding that her visits for interviews were no longer possible due to Covid-19, Larissa used her time to develop all sorts of merchandise, which now supports her platform financially and spreads awareness of the project. The page is still going strong; Koerber continues to champion women who have shaped their worlds in diverse and fascinating ways.

Some students have managed to take advantage of the fact that everyone is stuck at home and unite their strengths; this is the case of Declan Peters, Tarun Odedra and James Appiah, all three state-schooled, and now freshers at Oxford, Durham and Cambridge respectively. Together, they are running a series of podcasts on Spotify called Tomorrow’s Story, where they discuss societal, political and cultural issues with prominent guests. In their first few podcasts, they have tackled difficult topics such as knife crime in London, Trump’s presidential pardons, and Covid-positive grants. Their initiative targets young people, encouraging them to engage with themselves and the world they live in – as Declan Peters puts it: “Tomorrow’s Story was an opportunity for us to kick-start the kind of thinking in young people that leads to success across numerous aspects of their lives moving forward. Our tag line, ‘Debate, Discover and Distribute’, emphasises the idea of elevating as part of a community – working together towards common goals.” The students are very happy with the impact they have made on their audience after only a few episodes: “the response so far has been really strong, and we receive messages every day from people who are forming opinions and becoming curious about the world that surrounds them”. 

Upholding and elevating the next generation has also been the motivation of a colossal project uniting the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, The Oxbridge Launchpad. At its core is the desire to make these two universities more accessible, opening them up to pupils from less privileged backgrounds. The pandemic turned this ambition into reality, as one of their co-founders Vikram Mitra told me: “the pandemic was an enormous driver in our mission; the ‘A-level fiasco’ on results day 2020 brought to the fore the prejudices within our education system. Co-founder Kavi and I wanted to be part of the solution to this problem.” In order to achieve this, they have set up a free mentoring scheme between current Oxbridge students and prospective applicants. This concept has rapidly convinced many volunteering students as well as many ambitious sixth-formers, to Vikram’s delight: “the Oxbridge Launchpad team has grown rapidly – our mentoring team has expanded from just 30 to over 250 mentors from across Oxford and Cambridge since our launch. Most importantly it is our collective passion for access, alongside our insight into the application process, that drives our ability to make a social impact.”

These are just three examples from countless ways in which students in Oxford and across the country are making a difference, despite these very difficult times. The pandemic’s silver lining is the extra time it affords us to make our ideas into reality; I can only encourage any student who has a dream to go for it!

Artwork by Rachel Jung.

How COVID-19 can affect your toes and skin

Matilda Gettins
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How COVID-19 can affect your toes and skin

Matilda Gettins describes the COVID-19 symptom that is keeping us on our toes

“COVID toes” are a dermatological symptom of COVID-19. They “resemble chilblains”, which are red or purplish swellings one may experience if hands or feet are exposed to the cold for too long. They can feel itchy, cause pain or a sensation of burning. It is a widespread symptom. Over 200 articles in the Wiley Online Library have documented the phenomenon. However, it is not one of the 3 officially recognised symptoms (NHS guidelines).

During the first wave, a Spanish study examined data from 429 cases of dermatological symptoms associated with COVID-19 from 3 to 16 April 2020. Due to the low testing capacity available at the time, the study included both suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19. It found “pseudo‐chilblains” in 19% of cases, including cases on both the fingers and toes. These symptoms were found to cause pain (32%), to itch (30%) or to give a burning sensation (11%). The study links the pseudo‐chilblains with COVID‐19 because dermatologists perceived an increased incidence of these lesions in a “warm weather period” and because “patients frequently had COVID‐19 contacts”. Additionally, of the 71 patients with pseudo‐chilblains, only one had a previous history of chilblains. 

However, some scientists suggested that “COVID toes” might be related more to a change in lifestyle due to COVID restrictions, and not the virus itself. If children do not leave the house, but nonetheless fail to dress appropriately (e.g. not wear socks in the house) chilblains may occur even indoors.

To further investigate if the swellings could be related to COVID-19, a different team of scientists investigated biopsy samples from the blood vessel cells of the feet of seven children. These children exhibited the symptoms of COVID toes but had neither respiratory symptoms nor a positive result following nasal swab PCR tests. Yet under a specialized microscope, the scientists found coronavirus particles in the sample. The study did not test for antibodies.

COVID toes have also been documented worldwide. An International COVID-19 Dermatology Registry collected over 990 cases from 39 countries, and published findings based on this data in October 2020. It found COVID toes to last an average of 15 days, but that they could persist for “as long as 130-150 days”. The German Dermatology association’s website highlights that COVID toes are associated with late stages of infection while Dr. Paller of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Association adds that it is unclear “whether you’re contagious when you have COVID toes”. 

There are multiple other dermatological symptoms, such as hives and rashes, which have been recorded in association with COVID-19 infections, but whose correlation or potential causation remains insufficiently recorded. It will take more time and research until we have an accurate idea of the palette of symptoms that COVID-19 can cause. 

To speed up this process, some scientists have started taking innovative methods, such as analysing social media posts for potential symptoms. But for now, we will just have to keep an eye out for new, emerging symptoms that may help give us more insight into this novel virus. 

It’s time for contraceptive justice

Clara Marks
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It’s time for contraceptive justice

In 1979, researchers in India first published that they were developing a form of hormonal male contraception, namely, ‘Reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance’ or RISUG. This non-surgical and reversible male contraception is injected into the vas deferens (the tubes transporting sperm from the testicle to the ejaculatory ducts). Over forty years on, RISUG is only just undergoing Phase 3 Clinical Trials.

In stark contrast, the female combined oral contraceptive pill was researched, tested, mass-produced and widely available on the market in the US by 1960. Why did it take fifty years for substantial research into hormone-based male contraceptives to even begin and why are there still no options available besides surgery and condoms?

The lack of non-surgical, long-term male contraceptive methods has real-life effects on women worldwide. UN data shows that 70% of global contraceptive users resort to female contraceptive methods over male ones. Even with surgical methods, available to both men and women, there is an imbalance – 23.7% of users were found to have had a hysterectomy or female tubal ligation while only 2% of users had a vasectomy.

In 2006, Phase 3 Clinical Trials of a combined testosterone and progestin male contraceptive by US pharmaceutical companies Organon and Schering were dropped when Bayer bought Schering. The pharmaceutical giant’s reasoning for stopping the trials is unclear, but a lack of interest could be inferred. TIME magazine quoted the deputy director as saying that “Once the acquisition was finalized, [Bayer] conducted a thorough review of the product portfolio to ensure that the business was investing resources in therapeutic areas that would bring the greatest benefits to patients while ensuring the company was operating in a financially responsible manner”. The subtext expresses the common myth that there is no demand for hormonal male contraceptives and thus, no profit to be made by companies in developing them.

The early studies showed side effects of acne, weight gain, and mood issues. Bayer, which as one of the top sellers of female birth control has profited from products with the same, if not worse, side effects, may struggle to claim that the medication lacked scientific precedent. Women taking the combined pill face significant side-effects: headaches, weight gain, mood changes, and decreased libido among others. The problem is that standards for safety are inconsistent and discriminatory.

Historically, pharmaceutical companies have been more likely to accept side effects caused by female contraception than male contraception. Alongside the medical burden caused by potential side-effects, women shoulder the financial burden of birth control. On average, female contraceptive methods are more expensive than male methods.

Just as there is little investment in making male contraceptive products, there is little investment into research about how men would react to new products entering the market, resulting in the unsubstantiated idea of a lack of interest remaining popular, despite no effort to prove or disprove it. However, recent research shows that there is a demand for equal access to contraception methods. A 2021 survey by 3Vraagt, as part of the EenVandaag opinion panels, found that 65% of 16–34-year-olds in the Netherlands believed the responsibility to avoid pregnancy should be shared equally by both partners. Responsibility would, of course, be much easier to share, if there were a readily available, reversible, non-surgical, hormone-based contraception method for men.

The Contraceptive Development Program’s (CDP) contraceptive skin gel shows promise in this respect. Much like the combined pill, it contains two main compounds: the progestin compound segesterone acetate, which makes the body believe it is making enough sperm and thus halt production, and testosterone to replace the low levels that progestin leads to. This maintains libido, and all men have to do is remember to rub the gel on their shoulders each morning, hardly more effort than the daily pill women ingest. However, progress is slow: speaking to IFLScience in January 2021, Dr Diana Blithe, Program Chief of the CDP, said that the gel would not be available in the next five years.

The rapid development of vaccines in recent years has shown us that with enough funding, time and energy, rapid development in scientific innovation is possible. In 2018, Global Market Insights valued the contraceptives market at $24,118.1 million in 2018 and estimated a growth of 6.9% from 2019 to 2025. There is evidently a financial profit to be made in this growing market, and pharmaceutical companies should push against unsubstantiated and outdated ideas about a lack of demand for long-term male contraception.

It’s time for contraceptive justice, which means men must take their share of responsibility after years of women enduring the financial and medical toll of birth control. The myth that pharmaceutical companies uphold about a lack of demand can only be countered by men stepping up and showing interest. Innovative and effective hormonal male contraception options could be readily available, but they will never reach the market unless apathy ends.

Image credit: Reproductive Heath Supplies Coalition/Unsplash

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