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Episode details

World Service,29 Jan 2020,26 mins

Latest on the Chinese coronavirus

Health Check

Available for over a year

As the number of cases in the new coronavirus outbreak in China climbs, the World Health Organisation visits to assess the situation. Confirmed cases have emerged outside China despite measures aimed at limiting its spread – like putting the city of Wuhan in lockdown and some airlines cancelling flights. We hear from a British coronavirus expert about how difficult it is to assess how deadly the virus is without knowing if it can be passed on before symptoms appear. There are 160,000 deaths every year from another infectious disease – typhoid. It’s spread by contaminated water and kills 1 in 5 of those infected. Multi-drug resistant typhoid has emerged which cannot be treated with first line antibiotics. So scientists are calling for more preventative measures including vaccines. We hear about a new exhibition in Oxford which looks at the past, present and future of typhoid. You don’t have to be famous or hugely successful to suffer from imposter syndrome: the feeling that we feel we shouldn’t really be allowed to do what we’re doing and that eventually we’ll be found out. New research shows that it’s more widespread than we thought – but there may be a way to overcome it. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Paula McGrath (Photo: Medical staff wearing protective clothing arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in China. Credit: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images.)

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