Old MERS and MERS-CoV numbers
This is a static page – the internet address won’t change, just the charts as I add new numbers and update them. The page will present Middle East respiratory syndrome Read More …
Author: Ian M Mackay, PhD (EIC)
Respiratory viruses: the viruses we detect in the human respiratory tract
A list of the viruses we can and do detect in the (mostly upper) human respiratory tract. The standard testing panel/diagnostic menu comprises the influenza A and B viruses, parainfluenza Read More …
What to watch for with human parechovirus (HPeV) infections…
With HPeV infections generally around during summer (see specific earlier story arising from cases in babies from New South Wales), it’s well worth mirroring the advice from NSW health on parechovirus Read More …
Parechovirus infections in babies in New South Wales, Australia
The parechoviruses (HPeVs; par -echo-virus) don’t make the headlines too often. I’m not sure why, but I expect it is mostly because they are (a) not frequently sought and (b) not frequently found. That Read More …
Rhinovirus (RV) transmission by aerosol: does it happen or is transmission solely by hand-contact and self-inoculation?
I’ll be writing a few posts over the coming weeks based on the papers I’ve found on this topic of RV transmission. How applicable these study results are to the transmission of Read More …
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus: how tough is it?
This publication is nearly a month old so apologies if you know of it already. For the rest of you, Doremalen, Bushmaker and Munster recently wrote in Eurosurveillance about the results of Read More …
Happy Birthday rhinoviruses (RVs) – 60 years old today!
On September 12, 1953, the Common Cold Unit (CCU) in Salisbury, United Kingdom, reported isolating the agent of the common cold in laboratory cultures. The article was authored by Dr. Read More …
Measles, vaccination and infectious disease communication in Queensland…
With measles cases prominent in the news of late, there have been a few interesting reports and interviews from Queensland’s local Acting Senior Director for Communicable Diseases, Dr Stephen Lambert. The measles Read More …
Rhinoviruses (HRVs) in the blood reflect more HRV in the nasopharynx and worse disease…
Of late, we have heard quite a bit about systemic viruses of the nose, throat and lungs, commonly referred to as respiratory viruses. In this context, we’re referring to the spread Read More …
Human endemic coronaviruses, age and underlying conditions….
Human coronaviruses (HCoVs), that is, the ones that circulate all the time, not the ones that spill over from an animal host to cause havoc and mayhem, come in four Read More …
German HCoV-EMC-local transmission
A 2nd case of the most recently identified HCoV, HCoV-EMC, reported on ProMED, in Germany. The Robert Koch Institute notes that There is still no evidence of continuous human-to-human transmission. [VDU’s first Read More …