Do we need another whooping cough vaccine?

--:--
Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the '100 day cough', kills around 300,000 people per year, but is one of the most common diseases that can be prevented by vaccine. Children in Britain are vaccinated several times before starting school. But, scientists at Oxford University have discovered that these vaccines might not be doing enough. When examining children seeing their GP about a persistent cough, one in five of them actually had a case of whooping cough, including children who had been vaccinated against it. Kay Wang, who lead the study, told Chris Smith more...
25 Jun 2014 English United Kingdom Science

Other recent episodes

Making waves about coastline conservation, and plastic waste

This month the connections that human inhabitants have to the coast, why we're still in the middle of a worsening extinction crisis despite international laws and treaties designed to protect nature, the promise of pharmacogenomics and personalised medicine, the plastic pollution problem and how to tackle it, and why water…
14 Feb 35 min

Recycled plastics pollute food, and the value of water

Better awareness of the precious resource that is water, getting a grip on coastal ecosystems and the impact of pollution, why recycled plastics are a threat for food packaging and kitchen utensils, how we can help humans to step up in extreme environments, and the opportunity offered by "lived experience"…
10 Nov 2023 37 min

Wildlife Trade Extinctions and 21st Century Psychology

This time we hear how many species are being driven to extinction by human trade, why clinical psychology needs an update for the 21st Century, how non-specialists can help to plug the gap in mental health services, what art can do for science and conservation of coastal habitats, and the…
20 Oct 2023 37 min

Surviving a fusion bomb

Ken Mcginley was there during some of the first tests of hydrogen bombs in the 1950s. We were lucky enough to hear his story... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10 Aug 2023 7 min

Does our language affect our decision making?

There are many factors that might affect the way we make decisions: our age, our past experiences, even our mood that day. But now, a new study has suggested that the language we speak also plays a part in our willingness to wait for a reward. Researchers gave the choice…
22 Feb 2023 6 min