Do vaccines cure Long Covid?

Published: March 10, 2021, 9 p.m.

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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\\u2019s Brain Prize \\u2013 the Nobel equivalent for neuroscience. Four neurologists have won for their research on migraine \\u2013 basic medical research that has culminated in a new generation of highly effective medications in the last couple of years.

As Claudia\\u2019s 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\\u2019s been doing in Rajasthan about the causes of stunted growth in young children \\u2013 she\\u2019s discovered that the causes are much more complicated than inadequate nutrition.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond\\nProducer: Alexandra Feachem

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

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