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The prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) was studied in North East England in blood donors, local multiply transfused patients, local high risk individuals, and chronic liver disease patients. Anti-HCV was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 2/1120 (0.18%) blood donors; 1/84 chronic renal failure patients on haemodialysis who had received 1,992 units of blood (seroconversion rate of 0.05% per unit transfused), 1/207 cardiac patients 6 months post cardiac surgery transfused with 1,403 units of blood (1 anti-HCV pre-operatively, seroconversion rate 0.07%), 40/50 haemophilia A patients treated with commercial factor VIII, and 38/100 intravenous drug users. In addition anti-HCV was detected by ELISA in 5/35 cryptogenic chronic liver disease patients, 5/5 confirmed by recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) (14%); 3/30 patients with autoimmune chronic active hepatitis, 2/3 by RIBA (7%); 2/50 primary biliary cirrhosis patients, 1/2 by RIBA (2%); 0/30 alcoholic cirrhosis patients; and 2/9 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, 1/2 by RIBA (11%). HCV is uncommon in North East England; it may be implicated in the aetiology of a minority of cases of cryptogenic liver disease and less than 5% of autoimmune chronic active hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis.

The growing dissension towards the political handling of COVID-19, widespread job losses, backlash to extended lockdowns, and hesitancy surrounding the vaccine are propagating toxic far-right discourses in the UK. Moreover, the public is increasingly reliant on different social media platforms, including a growing number of participants on the far-right’s fringe online networks, for all pandemic-related news and interactions. Therefore, with the proliferation of harmful far-right narratives and the public’s reliance on these platforms for socialising, the pandemic environment is a breeding ground for radical ideologically-based mobilisation and social fragmentation. However, there remains a gap in understanding how these far-right online communities, during the pandemic, utilise societal insecurities to attract candidates, maintain viewership, and form a collective on social media platforms. The article aims to better understand online far-right mobilisation by examining, via a mixed-methodology qualitative content analysis and netnography, UK-centric content, narratives, and key political figures on the fringe platform, Gab. Through the dual-qualitative coding and analyses of 925 trending posts, the research outlines the platform’s hate-filled media and the toxic nature of its communications. Moreover, the findings illustrate the far-right’s online discursive dynamics, showcasing the dependence on Michael Hogg’s uncertainty-identity mechanisms in the community’s exploitation of societal insecurity. From these results, I propose a far-right mobilisation model termed Collective Anxiety, which illustrates that toxic communication is the foundation for the community’s maintenance and recruitment. These observations set a precedent for hate-filled discourse on the platform and consequently have widespread policy implications that need addressing.

A strong association between PE and patients hospitalized with COVID‐19 (15.3% overall range 0‐35%) has been reported, but the prevalence in ED patients remains unknown. The contribution of traditional risk factors is likewise unclear. While Freund et al. attempted to answer to this question, we have methodologic concerns we feel require attention before emergency physicians proceed as if COVID‐19 does not increase risk of PE.

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