Masks matter for more than mandates
The amount of virus per amount of snot, air, monkey or whatever is a way to describe the concentration of virus present in that thing. It might seem intuitive to Read More …
Category: Rhinovirus
Arrrrr on the rise (Rhinovirus, RSV and RATs)
Anecdotally there are a lot of acute respiratory virus infections ripping through the community where I live. Particularly noticeable in schools but also workplaces. Yes, there is SARS-CoV-2 among these Read More …
Thank goodness we did all the work
Thank goodness we didn’t hold off on opening up to see what Omicron was capable of. We had to have Christmas. And there were national cabinet agreements. Anyway, how could Read More …
The Swiss cheese infographic that went viral
A visual representation of how to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 struck a chord with many in 2020. I won’t rehash all that has already been written about the Swiss cheese Read More …
Yes, PCR tests can detect “the COVID virus”
I was asked to write some comments for a fact check article about some of the myths going around about PCR-based testing and whether PCR tests can detect “the COVID Read More …
Rhinovirus rampant or testing triumphant?
Turns out, this physical distancing thing actually works as advertised. Who would have thought that keeping the things viruses need for their survival – hosts full of cells – far Read More …
Face off
We touch our faces often. Maybe 3 to 23 times an hour often! But if our hands haven’t just been washed and we’ve touched surfaces contaminated by viruses surviving in Read More …
Memories
Dug these up from the old blog after a chat with a collaborator who recalled one of them fondly. I regret nothing!!! IMPORTED POSTS* You’re the virus I got… To Read More …
How many common cold viruses in one place, in one season?
I was recently asked how many common cold viruses are among us at a given time? The short answer is – dozens! In the past, I’ve written a few reviews (for Read More …
During the first 4 weeks of life “common cold” viruses occur frequently and can make your little one sick….
Not much is known about the number of, and the burden due to, virus infections that happen during the very first four weeks of life – called the “neonatal period“. Read More …
Only effective vaccines can protect us from respiratory viruses because we’re us
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 …
Rhinovirus C makes use of less regulation…
A new Australian study may help to explain why asthmatics have trouble suppressing the inflammation triggered by respiratory virus infections.[1] And it’s to do with Rhinovirus C. In particular, the Read More …
A cold virus in the blood…
Sometimes, viruses jump – or leak – from where we think they belong, turning up in an unexpected body compartment. We saw it with Ebola virus – it’s now known Read More …
MERS & the Hajj – watch out for the Flu!
The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (CoV) has now been known of for 6 consecutive Hajj mass gatherings (see the bar graphs). To date, there has not been a Read More …
Rhinoviruses (RVs)…a primer
More than 100 serologically distinct types (serotypes) and another 50 or more genotypically defined and distinct types (genotypes) of human rhinovirus (RV; Greek rhin = nose) exist within the genus Enterovirus. Read More …