Professor Chris Whitty Lecture

Just before half-term, a group of Year 12 Science students and three Science teachers attended Infections Transmitted by Touch, by Professor Chris Whitty. This was a part of a series of lectures surrounding the five main routes of transmission by which infections get into the human body. Understanding the route of transmission helps to explain how diseases spread, and how to combat them. The lecture took place at the Museum of London.

Below, Hatch End High School Year 12 student, Kush, provides feedback on the trip:

'On the 23rd of March 2022, Professor Chris Whitty gave a lecture on infections that use touch to transmit diseases. The lecture was extremely informative and insightful. Professor Whitty talked about different types of bacteria and fungi and how they are transmitted - this included staphylococcus, MRSA, etc. The lecture also discussed hygiene and how handwashing can help to reduce the risk of disease up to 85%. He then spoke about diseases transmitted by animals and parasites. These mainly included tetanus and rabies, and he talked on how these could be prevented, mentioning the measures taken by the UK government in order to reduce the number of cases with tetanus.  

The highlight of the event was when Professor Whitty spoke about Ebola. Professor Whitty talked about how the UK helped African countries to cope with Ebola. He mentioned that more than the number of people required volunteered for the programme and helped the people of Africa get better by providing necessary treatment to infected people, and helping to isolate the severely infected people to prevent the further transmission of disease. 

The session ended with a Q&A session, in which many students participated to get in depth knowledge of the topic. I personally found the entire lecture interesting and am even more curious of how diseases are transmitted, and their prevention methods.' 

Article written by Kush, Year 12