As winter wraps up in Australia, it’s become quite clear that – barring a very unusual late burst of activity – the 2018 influenza (flu) season has passed Australia by with Read More …
August is the traditional Australian peak influenza (flu) month. The peak can move around a bit but it usually flu virus party time, followed in size by September. We’re two-thirds of Read More …
Sometimes it’s hard to convey complex issues in a short-form article written for a general public audience. Other times, stories start off with an overly-simplified title they never recover from. Occasionally they lack any Read More …
This week’s influenza (flu) data from Queensland’s Department of Health suggest that the virus is toying with Queenslanders – and much of Australia – this season. The total number of Read More …
Haemagglutination (hemagglutination if you’re from the US) is the sticking (-agglutination) together of red blood cells (RBCs). Haem is the iron-containing, oxygen-transporting portion of haemoglobin, a molecule found in RBCs. This laboratory Read More …
“Flu cases jump by 256% in just five years” screams a newspaper headline from the Daily Mercury, a paywalled News Corp publication. It sure seems like scary stuff doesn’t it? Read More …
A brief article about influenza (flu) vaccination appeared in The Conversation on Tuesday night. The piece, entitled “The flu vaccine is being oversold – it’s not that effective“, states that Read More …
A…surprising…article about influenza (flu) vaccination appeared in the Conversation today. The piece, entitled “The flu vaccine is being oversold – it’s not that effective”, tells us that we are being Read More …
I’ve seen some media reporting an “early start to the flu season”. Is this true? The short answer is – I don’t know. Let’s explore why I can’t answer my Read More …
UPDATE #2. Back in October 2017, Queensland Health, Queensland Government (Australia) held a summit following on from our horrendous year of influenza.[1] One of the announcements associated with that summit Read More …
This year’s annual influenza (flu)Â H3N2Â epidemic in the United States (US) has peaked. It’s been a big season in the US and the United Kingdom and in Canada, as it was Read More …
According to the latest flu report, the United States (US) influenza (Flu) season looks like it has peaked.[1] And perhaps it has. But the graphs are only as solid as Read More …
I’ve been watching avian influenza A(H7N9) virus cases in humans since they popped onto the radar in 2013 (it was among my first blogs, “H7N9 deaths” [1]). So I’m confident when Read More …
What starts out as an influenza (Flu) A/H3N2 season may end up being a Flu B/Yamagata season. Or vice versa. Or with different players altogether. Flu is tricksy. We see Read More …
It’s been a very slow start to the H7N9 season (=spillovers from infected poultry to susceptible humans) in China. Why it’s been so slow is unclear. The Hong Kong (HK) Centre for Read More …