Health Check

Monkeypox is spreading in more than 20 countries where previously it has not been seen, but BBC Health reporter Smitha Mundasad explains that this is not a new disease. Presenter Claudia Hammond hears of an outbreak of a more serious strain in an area of the Democratic Republic of Congo that has no experience of Monkeypox. Professor Wim van Damme got in touch about his research trip to Maniema, a rural DRC province with more than 500 cases and 50 deaths. Plus, professor of virology Penny Moore discusses Covid variants in South Africa. Might waves of the virus be more predictable as surges appear to be settling into a six-monthly pattern? And a helpful new study on creams for childhood eczema. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika WrightPhoto copyright: Professor Wim van Damme

Reports from North Korea have suggested a scarcity of data on healthcare provision but Claudia hears from Professor Hazel Smith who has researched North Korea for over thirty years that there is good information about health services. And do doctors have a professional duty to be kind? The General Medical Council in the UK are consulting on whether to require doctors to ‘treat patients with kindness’ and some have not taken kindly to the idea. Louella Vaughan, a hospital consultant in acute medicine and family doctor Ann Robinson debate the issues. Plus Claudia’s studio guest today is Graham Easton, Professor of Clinical Communication skills at Queen Mary, University of London.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Picture: Pedestrians walk past cherry blossom trees near the Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang in April 2022. Photo credit: Kim Won Jin/AFP/Getty Images.)

Brand new results of a fourth Covid booster trial, with a mix and match approach including half doses, reveals good news for global vaccine rollout. BBC Health and Science correspondent James Gallagher explains.Plus evidence from Ohio where Professor Ihuoma Eneli's new paper shows how weight gain increased markedly in low-income US children and teenagers during early Covid-19.And the science of dreams, Claudia Hammond speaks to Brazilian neuroscientist Sidarta Ribeiro about his new wide ranging book The Oracle of Night.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Picture: A patient who has received a fourth Covid-19 vaccination in Rieti, Italy. Photo credit: Riccardo Fabi/NurPhoto/Getty Images.)

Claudia is joined by Matt Fox, Professor of Global Health at Boston University to discuss evidence investigating a hybrid combination of Covid vaccines and prior infection. Dr Vineet Arora explains how best to support health care workers who have received online attacks for trying to correct inaccurate information during the Pandemic. And advice for parents on how to cope when their children are having mental health problems from authors Roz Shafran, Alice Welham and Ursula Saunders.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Picture: Illustration of antibodies responding to a coronavirus infection. Photo credit: Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library/Getty Images.)

Update on the latest global research into Covid-19 with BBC Health Reporter Smitha Mundasad and Claudia talks to the authors of a new study charting brain development over the human life span. Could this be a useful tool to understanding how the brain varies over populations and over time and what are the ethical questions involved? Plus if you carry excess weight, what difference does it make to your health if those extra kgs are round your waist or hips?Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Picture: Neurologists working with CT brain scan images in a laboratory. Photo credit: Gorodenkoff/Getty Images.)

Using the results of the Kindness Test, which 60,000 people took part in, Claudia Hammond asks whether we are kinder to people who we think are like us? And what happens once we move beyond family and friends to acquaintances and strangers. What can the evidence tell us about who it is that we choose to be kind to and why?Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright

Claudia Hammond talks to Chris Gill, Associate Professor at Boston University School of Public Health and co-author of a new paper revealing the devastating impact of Covid in Zambia. By conducting post mortem Covid swabs on more than 1000 bodies taken to a morgue in Lusaka, his work suggests a staggering 90% undercount of cases and goes a long way to countering the so called African Paradox – a narrative suggesting that Africa skipped Covid.Jane Chambers reports from Chile on progress to get 90% of people living with HIV to know their status, have access to antiretroviral therapy and to achieve viral suppression. Out of an estimated 77,000 people living with HIV in Chile – 70,000 know their condition. But there’s one statistic which is worrying health care professions. 16,000 individuals are aware they have HIV but aren’t taking the free medication which they’re entitled to. What are the factors influencing this decision and what are the consequences?Plus Claudia’s studio guest Professor Monica Lakhanpaul of University College London discusses her brand new research on how to encourage young people to take Asthma treatment, and good news that Guinea Worm disease may be on the brink of eradication.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Picture: A woman wearing a face mask stands on a busy street in Zambia. Photo credit: PixelCatchers/Getty Images.)

Claudia Hammond talks to an Ukrainian psychotherapist about the increased demand for her services since Russia invaded her country.Is multiple sclerosis caused by a virus? Health Check looks at the latest evidence pointing to Epstein Barr virus, which more commonly causes glandular fever or mononucleosis. The discovery offers hope for a vaccine and new more effective treatments.Family doctor Ann Robinson joins Claudia to discuss the Epstein Barr findings as well as the extra risk of being infected with both Covid and flu viruses, and a promising gene therapy for haemophilia A.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker(Picture: A man and woman walk through rubble in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv, capital of Ukraine on 23 March 2022. Photo credit: Yuliia Ovsiannikova/Ukrinform/Future Publishing/Getty Images.)

The number of new Covid-19 infection cases worldwide has jumped by 10%. Tabitha Mwangi, Programme Manager at Cambridge Africa at Cambridge University, gives us a rundown of how that overall increase is playing out in different parts of the world.Hong Kong had been one of the most successful places at controlling Covid-19 but recently faced the highest death rates in the world. What went wrong? We hear from Vivian Wong, a public health advisor and honorary professor of Chinese Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. And how are pandemic restrictions impacting people’s mental wellbeing? Christian Chan, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Hong Kong and a warden at a student residence, shares his thoughts.Also, do you think you’re more likely to catch Covid-19 from a friend or a stranger? Ashley Whillans, a social psychologist at Harvard Business School in the US, tells us what happened when she asked people this very question.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Samara Linton(Picture: A worker cleans an area of Hong Kong International Airport on 21 March 2022 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo credit: Dale de la Rey/AFP/Getty Images.)

Although the world might not feel like a very kind place at the moment, this might be just the time when acts of kindness matter the most. This week, Claudia Hammond reveals the results of the world's largest public science project on kindness. With over 60,000 participants from 144 countries, this unique study helps to fill some of the research gaps and learn more about how kindness is viewed within society at large. What is kindness? Are we more or less kind than before? Where do acts of kindness take place? Are certain types of people kinder than others? Is kindness good for us? Professor Robin Bannerjee, University of Sussex, led the study and joins Claudia in the studio to unpick the results. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Samara Linton