US sees spike in flu cases in December, after most severe season since 2018

The United States has seen the number of influenza cases climb significantly in December, coming after the most severe flu season since 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.It’s not yet clear whether there will be an increase in the total number of people who get the flu this season – or whether more people just got it at once in December – but more than 3,100 people died from the virus in the US in the year ending August 2025, according to the latest data from the CDC.As such, people who have not yet gotten a flu vaccine should still get one, according to Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Brown University.“Bottom line for people, if they haven’t gotten vaccinated against the flu, they should get vaccinated, particularly young kids and older adults,” Nuzzo said.The spike in cases comes after a 2024-2025 flu season that was the most severe since 2018, according to the CDC

More than half of UK therapists report seeing rise in out-of-control porn use

More than half of therapists who work with men with addiction have noticed a rise in out-of-control porn use over the past year, according to new data.Experts are urgently calling for a national strategy on pornography as a total of 53% of therapists surveyed by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) said they had seen a rise in people seeking help for problematic pornography use that was interfering with their life or driving them to seek out more extreme content.The BACP survey of nearly 3,000 accredited therapists and counsellors found a growing number of people claiming to be addicted to pornographic content, with many reporting that they were neglecting their responsibilities or damaging their relationships as a result.Some people arrived at therapy with physical sexual problems such as erectile dysfunction, having been referred by NHS sexual health clinics, experts said.Dr Paula Hall, an expert in sex and porn addiction, called for the government to urgently look at the problem of porn addiction – something that affects “significant numbers” of people of all ages and genders – and its effects on society more widely

‘I’d try to hide it as best I could’: a UK man on his struggle with porn addiction

Ben Lennard would make jokes with his friends about pornography, the kind of banter men in their mid-20s often share.But in hindsight, he understands the humour was a deflection tool to mask a problem that was destroying his life.“I have a lot of banter with friends and people around me, I have a humorous side,” he said. “So for me, when I was watching it, even if I was out in public or there were people around, I’d just be humorous about it. But no one knew the addiction

Growing numbers of over-60s facing homelessness, charities warn

The housing crisis has reached the country’s oldest generations, charities have warned, with a growing number of people over the age of 60 seeking help for homelessness.Housing charities said they had seen cases of people over-60 developing health problems from being forced to sleep in their car for months, having to sleep on camp beds in emergency shelters and seeking homelessness support even while suffering illnesses such as cancer.Marie Dennehy, a senior service manager at St Mungo’s, said they had seen an increase in over-65s, often with complex health problems, coming to them for emergency housing support over the past two years.“We’ve got a guy in the service at the moment who’s 87 – it’s madness,” she said. “We never used to see the number of pensioners we’re seeing now

Vaping safer than smoking – so why are people struggling to quit e-cigarettes?

More socially acceptable than smoking – yet just as addictive – vaping has become the UK’s default way of consuming nicotine.Figures published by the Office for National Statistics last month showed that the number of over-16s in Great Britain who use vapes or e-cigarettes has overtaken the number who smoke cigarettes for the first time, with 5.4 million adults now vaping daily or occasionally, compared with 4.9 million who smoke.But alongside this shift is a growing sense of disquiet

Flu patient numbers in English hospitals fall for second straight week

The number of people in hospital with flu in England has fallen for the second week in a row, NHS figures show, as England’s top doctor said the health service was “far from complacent” as a cold snap takes hold.An average of 2,676 flu patients were in hospital each day during the week ending 28 December, down 13% from 3,061 the previous week.The figure had previously been on an upwards trend, reaching 3,140 in the week ending 14 December. Last winter, weekly flu numbers for England peaked at 5,408 patients.A total of 128 flu patients were in critical care beds in England last week, up from 117 the previous week