Could a single vaccine block nearly all viruses?

A universal nasal spray vaccine that could block nearly all viruses, and possibly also bacteria and allergens has been successful at early stages of research. By leaving immune cells ‘on alert’, they become ready to jump into action no matter what infection tries to get into the body. Dr Matthew Fox, Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Global Health at Boston University, explains what this could mean for the future of disease prevention. Four years into the Ukraine war, the founder of global initiative ‘Think Equal’ Leslee Udwin explains the programmes currently in place to help children to grow through their traumatic experiences. Plus, a teacher in Kharkiv, Violetta Kaleda, as well as some of the children within the programmes, describe the impact of bringing social and emotional learning into education. Prevention campaigns are resuming after the cholera outbreak in Mozambique has now been declared an epidemic by the country’s national director of public health. Reporter Jose Tembe give the latest on the outbreak after the years-long shortage of cholera vaccines begins to rebound. As commercial spaceflight grows and human fertility in space becomes a more pressing concern, embryologist Giles Palmer explains the current understanding of the effects of spaceflight on human reproductive systems. Plus, a new study on ultra-endurance marathon running shows it may accelerate aging and the breakdown of red blood cells. Presenter: Laura Foster Producer: Hannah Robins Assistant Producers: Georgia Christie and Anna Charalambou

You can listen to Could a single vaccine block nearly all viruses? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Could a single vaccine block nearly all viruses? is an episode from Health Check by BBC.

This episode is 26:29 long.

This episode was published on Feb 25, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Health Check when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.