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Health Check: Do vaccines cure Long Covid?

Magazines & Reviews

Doctor giving a vaccine to a mature woman at home

2021/03/10 GMT

Do vaccines cure Long Covid?

BBC World Service - Health Check, Do vaccines cure Long Covid?

Long Covid and vaccines, blood transfusion myths, and Migraines

How Long Covid could be cured by vaccination; Dangerous myths around blood transfusions; The winners of this year’s Brain Prize and their research on migraines.

A significant proportion of sufferers of Long Covid are reporting that their symptoms lessen or disappear completely after receiving a coronavirus vaccination. At the moment, the evidence is just anecdotal but doctors and researchers are intrigued. Claudia talks to New York infectious disease doctor Daniel Griffin who estimates that more than a third of his patients are getting some relief following vaccination and Prof Janet Lord, professor of immunology at Birmingham University, runs through the possible explanations.

Dangerous myths about blood transfusions. Dayo Yusuf reports from eastern Kenya on the myths about them in some pastoralist communities and meets the parents who rejected the option of a life-saving blood transfusion for their son who has chronic anaemia. They feared bad character traits of the donor would be passed onto him. Monica Lakhanpaul, professor of paediatrics, discusses other damaging health myths that she has studied in South Asia and how these false beliefs about the body and modern medical interventions can be most effectively tackled.

Claudia talks to neurologist Prof Peter Goadsby, one of the winners of this year’s Brain Prize – the Nobel equivalent for neuroscience. Four neurologists have won for their research on migraine – basic medical research that has culminated in a new generation of highly effective medications in the last couple of years.

As Claudia’s studio guest, Monica Lakhanpaul also offers thoughts about migraine as someone who suffers from them herself and who treats young people for migraine. She also talks about research she’s been doing in Rajasthan about the causes of stunted growth in young children – she’s discovered that the causes are much more complicated than inadequate nutrition.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Alexandra Feachem

(Picture: A woman receiving a vaccination at home. Photo credit: FG Trade/Getty Images.)

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