Flu down under is a July thing
This is a graph I didn’t know I wanted to make. But now I have, I needed to make it! It shows the influenza virus detections reported to laboratories in Read More …
Author: Ian M Mackay, PhD (EIC)
Q fever – an old zoonosis with a better diagnosis
Q fever or ‘query fever’ is a vaccine-preventable zoonosis first described in Australia in 19377. The causative agent8 for this disease is the obligate intracellular coccobacillus Coxiella burnetii. The bacterium Read More …
What if Harvard loses?
The prestigious Ivy League private university has taken a stand against the Trump administration’s demands. Briefly (see the link above for full details), these set out a list that aims Read More …
Measles takes your immune memories
Acute measles virus (MeV) infection can be serious You may have heard that the United States is having a multistate outbreak of MeV infections, mainly causing its worst outcomes among Read More …
A measles infographic: virus, symptoms and white blood cells
Here’s a measles infographic prepared using a range of sources and some feedback from the public. It aims to present measles symptoms and the levels of the virus and white Read More …
United States influenza: biggest season in 15 years of data
The United States has been suffering from many influenza virus infections. And it looks like those are translating into a “flunami” of hospitalisations, which has resulted in the US CDC Read More …
No new A/H7N8 chook farms hit in Victoria so far
Two poultry farms in the southern Australian State of Victoria have been quarantined for high pathogenicity avian influenza A/H7N8 infections, but spread to additional farms has not been observed so Read More …
The US 2024-2025 flu season and the vaccine
The United States has been having one of its biggest influenza (flu) years. Let’s look at how this season’s northern hemisphere flu vaccine, which most Americans most likely didn’t seek Read More …
A good news RSV vaccine story for adults
An overview of a new study in adults showing the Abrysvo respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine preventing lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) caused by RSV infection among older adults, a Read More …
Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in Australia – a 2022 study and the current state
A brief overview of a report describing the 2022 discovery of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in Australia. This was the first local outbreak in southern Australia and set the stage Read More …
Not the “Chinese flu” label thing again…please
A few recent headlines have suggested something novel and infectious might be brewing among China’s children. But is it really novel? The hard-to-source headlines imply that we should be concerned. Read More …
SNAPDATE: MPOX cases in Australia, 14.09.2024
MPOX, the disease resulting from Monkeypox virus (MPXV) infection, continues to rise rapidly in Australia, as elsewhere in the world. It is unclear if Australia has rolled out more of Read More …
In Australia, COVID-19 deaths may have stopped decreasing
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) published excellent data on deaths due to or with COVID-19 in Australia from 2022 to July 2024. Deaths dropped between 2022 and 2023, but Read More …
It takes a while to gather death data
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) published some excellent data on the sad topic of mortality (death) in Australia. In doing that, they nicely defined why it takes patience to Read More …
Update on Monkeypox virus (MPXV) transmission in Australia
Monkeypox virus (MPXV) causes MPOX. A ‘global outbreak’ of infections and disease became noticeable in 2022. The MPOX outbreak continues, and below is an update on the ongoing MPOX cases Read More …