Influenza is the name of the virus that causes flu and its symptoms. It is common, and around 15-20% of people develop it each year. Influenza commonly causes a fever, sore throat, cough, sore muscles, significant fatigue and feeling generally poorly. Symptoms tend to come on quite fast, as opposed to the gradual onset that happens with the common cold. For most people, flu leads to some days spent in bed feeling pretty rotten and for the elderly, young children, or people with other serious medical problems it can be serious, and significant numbers of people die from flu each year. The flu virus typically hits in winter, which is why the flu vaccine is offered in the run-up to flu season every autumn. The virus can change from year to year, making it hard for our immune systems to recognise it and so the flu jab is changed every year to keep up with this ever-changing virus. This is why we need it every year.

Monkeypox – sometimes known as mpox - is a relatively rare disease that entered common public knowledge in 2022, as an outbreak spread within Europe including the UK. Cases are normally restricted to western and central Africa, usually causing only a mild illness. Monkeypox is a virus from the same virus family as smallpox, a devastating condition that has been defeated worldwide but it is very different from the COVID-19 or chickenpox viruses. It is called monkeypox because it was first discovered in monkeys in 1958. It then took 10 years for the first cases to be recorded in humans, and the most likely transmission is still from animals to humans, rather than human-to-human. There are two strains, one from western Africa and one from central Africa. The cases in Europe are the western African strain, which causes a milder illness. It's important to emphasise that only a small number of cases have reached Europe, and people are not severely unwell, but scientists are investigating why it seems to be spreading more quickly from human to human than previously. One working theory is that now that COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, people are travelling more, but have lost some natural immunity to fight viruses during the prolonged period of lockdowns and mask-wearing.

A shingles rash is caused by a virus called herpes zoster, and starts as tiny red bumps or blotches that then become weeping blisters (known as vesicles). This most often appears on the chest, back, stomach, neck or face. People sometimes notice a tingling or burning in the days before the rash appears, and may have a headache, mild fever or feel otherwise unwell. It is distinctive in that it will only appear on one half of the body, and usually only covers a small area. This virus was originally caught as chickenpox (varicella zoster virus), usually in childhood. While your body recovers from this, the virus lays asleep, or dormant, in the nerves and is reactivated under stress or illness, usually in those over 60 years old. Following the pathway of nerves means the virus is only activated from the nerves leading off the spine to one side or the other - a so-called dermatomal distribution.