Meningitis in Kent, and sonic hedgehogs

The Naked Scientists Podcast

Dr Chris Smith

Science Radio, Engineering, Naked Scientists, Natural Sciences, Technology, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Science

4.6 • 957 Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2026

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Coming up, we explore an outbreak of meningitis in the English county of Kent. Will a targeted vaccination campaign bring it under control? Plus, a fast diagnostic swab test that may help diagnose schizophrenia, how thousands of old tumour samples could aid our understanding of rising bowel cancer rates in people under 50, and a new study that suggests ultrasound could help save European hedgehogs from road traffic... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Transcript

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0:00.0	All engine running.
0:03.0	Absolutely genius.
0:04.0	Get this.
0:05.0	Welcome.
0:06.0	This is the show where we bring you science.
0:08.0	What that essentially means is...
0:09.0	Discovery is...
0:10.0	Advances.
0:11.0	Research.
0:12.0	Technology.
0:13.0	Unbelievable.
0:14.0	Without further ado, this is The Naked Scientists.
0:16.0	Hello, welcome to the Naked Scientist podcast, the program that brings you the biggest breakthroughs
0:21.4	and also talks to the major movers and shakers in the worlds of science, technology and medicine.
0:26.6	I'm Chris Smith.
0:27.3	And coming up this week, a massive meningitis outbreak in the UK, what's behind it and what's being done to stop it.
0:33.9	Also, how thousands of old tumour samples could help scientists fight rising rates of bowel cancer in young people
0:40.2	and a sound way to save the much-loved European hedgehog that's falling victim to road traffic.
1:01.9	Up first this week, health officials have described a sudden outbreak of meningitis in Kent as unprecedented.
1:07.4	It follows the deaths of a university student and also a sixth-form pupil in the English county,
1:11.9	with more than a dozen other cases reported. At the root of the outbreak is a strain of the Nicerian meningoccus bacterium called Menb. It usually sits harmlessly in
1:20.0	the noses and throats of a significant proportion of the population, maybe a quarter of some
	...

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