• Question: hi kevin what are common diseases in the uk

    Asked by phoebe to Rosie, Kevin on 12 Jun 2017.
    • Photo: Rosie Fok

      Rosie Fok answered on 12 Jun 2017:

      In terms of infections, the common cold lives up to its name. It is caused by not one, but hundreds of different viruses, all causing similar symptoms in our bodies. Lots of people get other common childhood infections – I had mumps (I’m old enough that the MMR vaccine hadn’t been introduced for infants yet) and chickenpox. Tummy bugs, like norovirus that Liz studies, are common (although a vaccine for infants to protect them against one of the other common viruses causing tummy upset, rotavirus, means that the number of cases we see has fallen dramatically). Even though most parasites and worms aren’t picked up in the UK because of our high standards of living (being able to afford shoes, for example) there are still some that are commonly found here – anyone had threadworms/pinworms or headlice?

    • Photo: Kevin Pollock

      Kevin Pollock answered on 15 Jun 2017:

      Whooping cough is quite common at the moment – even though vaccine rates against this are quite high. Approximately 1200 cases are reported in Scotland so that number in England is likely to be about 12000 cases per year. The vaccine used is not as effective as it used to be but is much safer.

Comments