If your stomach has been feeling off lately, you are not alone, and it may not just be last night’s dodgy takeaway to blame. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has flagged a worrisome 26 per cent jump in Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infections across England in 2024. This is not your average upset tummy. STEC is a notorious bacterial bug that can pack quite a punch and even turn deadly in rare cases.

Let us break down what is going on inside your gut and why everyone from toddlers to travellers is being warned to tread carefully.

What is STEC?

And just how bad is the situation? In 2024, England clocked 2,544 confirmed cases, up from 2,018 in 2023. Of these, 564 were the O157 variety, the usual suspect in previous years, and 1,980 were of other non-O157 strains, which are fast becoming the new troublemakers.

Why Toddlers Are Most at Risk

When Holidays Come With a Side of Bacteria

How It Spreads

2024’s Biggest Outbreak

Deaths, Detection and a Worrying Trend

What Can You Do?

Meanwhile, according to the reports, it is recommended that everyone follow the “4Cs” of food hygiene: chilling, cleaning, cooking, and avoiding cross-contamination. And if you are eating out, check hygiene ratings before you tuck in.

With 6,000 cases of Legionnaires reported annually in the United States, scientists still think it is underdiagnosed as it could be hard to distinguish from other kinds of pneumonia or respiratory issues.

As of now, New York City has fallen prey to Legionnaires' disease outbreak. At least 22 people have fallen ill, and one person has been declared dead in Harlem, as per the New York City Health Department.

The Reason Of This Spread

As per the city health officials, people became ill after breathing in bacteria sprayed from cooling tower in central Harlem. Cooling towers help regulate building temperature. The city health department also said in a news release on Wednesday that it was testing cooling towers in the area and are continuously investigating the outbreak.

What Is The Legionnaire's Disease?

As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Legionnaire's disease is a serious type of pneumonia that is caused by Legionella bacteria. This bacteria is known for causing two types of diseases, one of them being Legionnaire's disease, a severe form of pneumonia; while the other one is Pontiac fever, which is a mild illness that can include fever, muscle aches and headaches.

It is very rare that this bacteria can cause infection outside of the lungs and affect heart or wound infections, notes CDC.

Common Symptoms

Legionnaires' disease symptoms usually develop 2 to 14 days after exposure to Legionella bacteria, but it can take longer.

The symptoms of Legionnaires' disease are similar to other types of pneumonia.

Symptoms include:

• Cough
• Fever
• Headaches
• Muscle aches
• Shortness of breath

Other symptoms, such as confusion, diarrhea, or nausea can also occur.

After this outbreak, which has been linked with a cluster, the deputy commissioner of division of infectious diseases at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Dr Celia Quinn, said that the risk is low for most people, however, there could be additional cases linked with this cluster.

Legionnaire's Disease in the US

Cases have been steadily rising over the past two decades. While there isn’t a single known cause for this increase, experts believe several factors may be contributing, including aging water infrastructure, poor system maintenance, rising water temperatures, and improved disease tracking and awareness.

Outbreaks are more common during the warmer months, particularly summer, when more buildings rely on cooling towers for air conditioning systems.

Health professionals note that while a similar report in winter might raise fewer concerns, the combination of summer heat and rising case numbers highlights the importance of staying vigilant during peak Legionella season.

Who Are At Risk?

While most healthy people exposed to the bacteria do not get sick, people who are 50 or older, or are current or former smokers, or people with a weakened immune system or chronic conditions, such as cancer, lung disease, diabetes or kidney and liver failure may be at a higher risk.

Legionnaires’ disease often becomes more severe within the first week of symptoms. In serious cases, patients may need hospitalization and oxygen support. If the illness progresses, it can lead to complications like lung failure or heart damage. According to the CDC, about 1 in 10 people who contract Legionnaires’ disease do not survive.

Is It Contagious?

Legionnaires’ disease doesn’t spread from person to person. It’s usually contracted by breathing in mist or vapor contaminated with the bacteria. Outbreaks are often linked to cooling towers in large cities. In rare instances, the illness can also be caused by inhaling contaminated soil.

After wrapping up a two-year long world tour, pop icon Justin Timberlake, 44, opened up about a private health battle that’s been affecting him behind the scenes. In a heartfelt Instagram post shared on Thursday, the singer revealed that he has been diagnosed with Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness that can cause lingering and unpredictable symptoms.

The announcement came just one day after the conclusion of his tour in Istanbul, marking the end of a musical chapter that spanned more than 70 performances across North America, Europe, and South America.

Diagnosis Behind the Scenes

Timberlake disclosed that during his Forget Tomorrow World Tour, which promoted his sixth solo album Everything I Thought It Was, he had been quietly “battling some health issues.”

“When I first got the diagnosis, I was shocked for sure,” Timberlake wrote. “But at least I could understand why I would be onstage and in a massive amount of nerve pain, or just feeling crazy fatigue or sickness.”

He admitted that the symptoms forced him to reconsider continuing the tour, saying, “I was faced with a personal decision. Stop touring? I decided the joy that performing brings me far outweighs the fleeting stress my body was feeling.”

Despite the physical toll, Timberlake pushed through his JT LIVE 25 tour leg, which included festival performances like Lollapalooza Brazil, before finally wrapping things up on July 31.

What Is Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected black-legged tick. It's most common in certain parts of North America and Europe, especially during the warmer months.

The most common early sign of Lyme is a red rash that often resembles a bull’s-eye, typically appearing within 3 to 30 days after the bite.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US, notes that the early symptoms can also mimic the flu, fever, chills, headache, fatigue, and muscle aches. If caught early and treated with antibiotics, most people recover completely within a few weeks.

However, for some, like Timberlake, symptoms can persist or worsen even after treatment. This condition, sometimes called Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), includes ongoing fatigue, nerve pain, cognitive issues, and more.

“Lyme can be incredibly tricky because its symptoms overlap with many other conditions,” explained Dr. Christopher Bazzoli, an emergency medicine expert at the Cleveland Clinic, as reported by the New York Times. “When it’s not caught early, it can lead to a wide range of complications, from joint pain to neurological issues.”

In some untreated or severe cases, complications can include:

• Chronic fatigue
• Arthritis
• Heart palpitations
• Dizziness or shortness of breath
• Nerve pain
• Memory or concentration problems
• And in rare instances, meningitis

Doctors are still researching why some people recover quickly while others experience long-term effects. For now, treatment usually includes rest, medications for symptom relief, and in some cases, extended antibiotic therapy.

Timberlake has now joined a growing list of celebrities, including Avril Lavigne and Shania Twain, who’ve opened up about their experiences with Lyme disease in hopes of raising awareness.

Takeaway For You: If you’ve spent time in wooded or grassy areas and experience unusual fatigue, joint pain, or rashes, it’s worth getting checked for Lyme. Early diagnosis can make all the difference.

In what is being hailed as a groundbreaking moment in global transfusion medicine, a 38-year-old woman from Karnataka, India, has been identified as the first known carrier of a previously undocumented human blood group, now officially named CRIB. This unprecedented finding came to light when she was admitted to R.L. Jalappa Hospital in Kolar for heart surgery in 2023.

Though she was originally typed as O-positive, her blood didn’t behave like it. It reacted with every test sample available in the lab—something known as being panreactive. That raised immediate red flags among her physicians. No compatible donor could be found, even among 20 of her closest family members. Despite the risk, the surgical team completed her cardiac procedure without a transfusion—a decision that would later prove critical in her survival and in medical history.

What followed was a medical investigation that spanned continents. Her blood sample was sent to the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory (IBGRL) in Bristol, UK—one of the world’s leading institutions in blood group identification. There, a team of transfusion scientists spent 10 months conducting molecular and serological analyses to crack the case.

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Finally, they concluded that her blood carried an unknown antigen—a marker on red blood cells that typically determines compatibility for transfusions. The antigen didn’t match anything in the 43 existing blood group systems recognized by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT).

A new antigen was identified within the Cromer blood group system, which involves proteins called decay-accelerating factor (DAF) on red cells. To honor the origin of the discovery, scientists named the antigen CRIB, an acronym combining Cromer, India, and Bengaluru.

What Is the CRIB Blood Group?

The CRIB blood group represents a rare antigen profile within the Cromer system. In most people, antigens in this group are present on DAF proteins. But in the CRIB case, the woman lacked a high-prevalence antigen commonly found in the general population, causing her immune system to react to every available donor blood type—even O-positive.

This made the woman’s blood functionally unique. Anyone with this blood type would need extremely rare, CRIB-negative blood in the case of transfusion—currently, there’s no known matching donor worldwide.

This isn’t just a medical oddity—it has far-reaching consequences for how we approach blood donation, transfusion safety, and immunogenetics.

The CRIB blood group challenges conventional systems used for blood typing and compatibility. It underscores how standard blood typing is still incomplete, and how gaps in our understanding can be dangerous—especially in emergency surgeries or during pregnancy.

How Is This Blood Type Discovery Affect Pregnancy and Fetal Health?

The discovery of CRIB has serious implications for fetal medicine. Similar to how Rh incompatibility can lead to Hemolytic Disease of the Fetus and Newborn (HDFN), CRIB-positive mothers might develop antibodies that attack the fetus’s red blood cells—if the baby inherits incompatible antigens.

Detecting CRIB in expectant mothers could therefore become critical in preventing miscarriage or fetal complications.

India’s diverse gene pool has previously produced rare blood group discoveries, including INRA (Indian Rare Antigen), first identified in 2017. With CRIB now officially recognised by ISBT, it marks India’s second major contribution to global transfusion science in under a decade.

This elevates the importance of developing a national rare blood registry, and investing in genetic blood screening—not just for patients, but for potential donors.

What Is The Science Behind the Cromer Group?

The Cromer blood group system is one of the more obscure and less commonly tested classifications in blood science. It involves antigens located on the DAF (decay-accelerating factor), which protects blood cells from immune destruction. Variants in these antigens can cause unexpected immune reactions during transfusions.

CRIB appears to represent a novel Cromer antigen—meaning it doesn’t behave like any of the previously documented ones. This puts it in a category of what transfusion scientists call high-prevalence antigen absences, where even a single unit of compatible blood can be hard—or impossible—to find.

In an effort to find a compatible blood donor, doctors collected samples from 20 of her family members. None matched. This confirmed that the antigen pattern was not only rare—it was potentially unique.

The case was handled with meticulous care. According to Dr. Ankit Mathur from the Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre, “Her blood was panreactive, incompatible with all test samples. Recognising this as a possible case of a rare or unknown blood type, we worked closely with international experts and managed the case without transfusion.” Now that CRIB has been added to the official ISBT database, transfusion scientists across the world are advocating for:

• Development of CRIB-specific antibody screening kits
• International rare blood registries to flag potential future donors
• Greater investment in genetic blood typing, especially in populations with diverse ancestry
• Training healthcare professionals to recognise and manage panreactive or atypical cases earlier

The discovery of CRIB is more than a scientific milestone—it’s a reminder of how individual cases can rewrite medical textbooks. One woman’s unusual blood has now become a catalyst for change in how we view transfusion safety, genetics, and global healthcare cooperation.

For now, she remains the only known person in the world with the CRIB blood group but her case has opened the door to more discoveries and potentially, more lives saved.