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Virology Down Under

Facts, data, info, expert opinion and a reasonable, occasionally grumpy, voice on viruses: what they are, how they tick and the illnesses they may cause.

Category: Uncategorized

Commonwealth games virus and parasite tally!

Posted onApril 12, 2018

This is based on numbers reported by the media. Gold is awarded for a confirmed case, silver for a probable and bronze for a suspected case.

CategoriesUncategorized

Lassa virus: what’s in a name?

Posted onMarch 26, 2018May 1, 2018

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagslassa virus, LASV, mammarenavirus, taxonomy

Aussie Flu, UK Flu – who cares? Get vaccinated.

Posted onJanuary 15, 2018

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsinfluenza, quadrivalent vaccine, trivalent vaccine

Klassevirus…brief introduction to a Salivirus A

Posted onJanuary 4, 2018January 4, 2018

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsKlassevirus, Picornaviridae, salivirus, Salivirus A

Saffold virus…..brief introduction to a Cardiovirus B

Posted onJanuary 3, 2018

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagscardiovirus, picornavirus, Picornavridae, saffold virus, SAFV

Flu in the US – Week 51

Posted onDecember 31, 2017December 31, 20173 Comments

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 …

CategoriesUncategorized

How the 2013 influenza A/H7N9 was thought to have arisen….

Posted onDecember 27, 2017

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsavian influenza, bird flu, evolution, H7N9, influenza virus

Avian influenza A H7N9 virus starts its 6th wave….

Posted onDecember 27, 2017December 27, 2017

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsavian influenza, bird flu, H7N9, influenza

Why the current influenza season is a big one…

Posted onDecember 27, 2017

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagscommunity engagement, Flu, influenza, SciComm

“Rhinovirus” occurs in people who are not sick ergo it never causes sickness…

Posted onDecember 27, 2017December 27, 2017

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsdistinct, genotype, HRV, rhinovirus, RV, RV-A, RV-B, RV-C, species

Human respiratory syncytial virus: an example of why calling them many usually outweighs calling them few, or one

Posted onDecember 21, 2017July 22, 20231 Comment

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsgenotype, respiratory syncytial virus, respiratory virus, RSV

Well done Aussies, the people made marriage equality law….its leaders, not so much

Posted onDecember 8, 2017August 8, 2019

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 …

CategoriesUncategorized

A cold virus in the blood…

Posted onOctober 25, 2017October 27, 20172 Comments

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagscommunity acquired pneumonia, pneumonia, poliovirus, rhinovirus, viraemia

The MERS CoV receptor and areas for new research….

Posted onOctober 12, 2017October 27, 2017

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsDPP4, MERS, MERS-CoV, receptor

MERS CoV accessory proteins interfere with interferon…

Posted onOctober 2, 2017October 27, 2017

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsaccessory proteins, Africa, camels, Egypt, innate, Kenya, MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome

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