Lassa virus: what’s in a name?
UPDATED Just a little post to share some stuff I’ve learned while writing things about stuff. Lassa virus. It can be written in shorthand as LASV. The virus causes Lassa Read More …
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Aussie Flu, UK Flu – who cares? Get vaccinated.
Some thoughts from Dr Katherine Arden and myself about where the flu viruses sweeping the UK came from. Is it the “Aussie flu”? The short answer is simply “No”. There Read More …
Klassevirus…brief introduction to a Salivirus A
Klasseviruses are now assigned as members of the family Picornaviridae, genus Klassevirus, species Salivirus A.[4] Klassevirus-1 was first identified using deep sequencing [1] from a pool of 141 stool samples mostly Read More …
Saffold virus…..brief introduction to a Cardiovirus B
Until fairly recently, members of the family Picornaviridae, genus Cardiovirus, species Cardiovirus B [8] were thought to mainly replicate in the gut of rodents[1]. But in 2007 the genome of Saffold virus Read More …
Flu in the US – Week 51
It’s been all about influenza type A in the United States (US) so far this annual 2017/18 Flu season. In particular, the influenza A H3N2 (A/H3N2) subtype has been dominating Read More …
How the 2013 influenza A/H7N9 was thought to have arisen….
This is a graphical resurrection of sorts. An old image of mine I made back in 2013/14 and some text from what used to be the H7N9 page on my Read More …
Avian influenza A H7N9 virus starts its 6th wave….
It’s that time of year again! No, not time for more leftovers, but time to turn our eyes towards China for signs of H7N9 activity.[1] While this is a ‘bird Read More …
Why the current influenza season is a big one…
We wrote a little something on this topic for the Conversation back in November. It may be of interest you in the northern hemisphere. You can read the entire piece, Read More …
“Rhinovirus” occurs in people who are not sick ergo it never causes sickness…
In a community study of healthy infants reported in 2015 the authors stated that “Our finding of low RSV prevalence in asymptomatic infants suggests that RSV is likely the causative Read More …
Human respiratory syncytial virus: an example of why calling them many usually outweighs calling them few, or one
Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is a beast of a respiratory virus among infants-a leading cause of their hospitalization. One estimate reported the worldwide infection of 33.8 million infants younger Read More …
Well done Aussies, the people made marriage equality law….its leaders, not so much
While this entire horrible process of “allowing” our LGBQTI community to legally show their dedication to one another in the eyes of the law – the way the rest of 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 …
The MERS CoV receptor and areas for new research….
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a respiratory disease of humans. The receptor for the causative coronavirus (CoV) is called dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4). DPP4 has a wide tissue distribution and Read More …
MERS CoV accessory proteins interfere with interferon…
This concept (see the paper adjacent and others [6,7]) is not news in the world of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), but it’s interesting to remember in light of Read More …
A look at public reporting of Flu in Australia…
I’ve spent a bit more time on Flu reports this year than in past years, so I thought I might compare the data that the public can see. There are Read More …