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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

What’s up d̵a̵n̵g̵e̵r̵ Flu?

Posted onJanuary 18, 2019January 22, 20192 Comments

Influenza is still hammering Australia with unseasonable disrespect. Is this just more testing for flu viruses, or is it a new variant virus? January in Australia is continuing 2018’s out-of-character Read More …

CategoriesUncategorized

What’s new Influ2day…?

Posted onMay 24, 2018November 4, 2018

Annoying things I read in the Australian online news media today… Not too late to get the flu shot. No. It sure isn’t. I was…surprised to read this since the flu Read More …

CategoriesUncategorized

A pile of TWADALs…

Posted onMay 8, 2018May 8, 20181 Comment

IMPORTED POST* During my time engaging with a gaggle of hardcore vaccine denialists, I developed a term and acronym…TWADAL TWADAL stands for “Those Who Are Decided Against Learning“. It came Read More …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsanti-vaccination, TWADAL

What’s new Influ2day…?

Posted onApril 17, 2018May 1, 2018

Annoying things I read in the Australian online news media today… ‘Super vaccines’ For those confused – and from what I’ve seen on FaceBook, confusion about this season’s influenza (flu) vaccine Read More …

CategoriesUncategorized

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, 2017February 7, 20261 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

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  • Asymptomatic, acute and persistent COVID-19 symptom changes over the course of three infections March 5, 2026
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  • Another way to look at flu season size February 28, 2026
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  • The “Infection Pause”: because it’s about fewer infections, not an immune debt to repay July 31, 2025
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  • Q fever – an old zoonosis with a better diagnosis June 9, 2025
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Recent Posts

  • Age and COVID-19: What’s with all the young kids?
  • Asymptomatic, acute and persistent COVID-19 symptom changes over the course of three infections
  • How are asymptomatic COVID-19 cases tracking?
  • Another way to look at flu season size
  • Whooping cough in 2024 was huge in Australia, but is declining in 2025 and 2026

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All graphics made by me are free-to-use. Please just cite the particular page, blog and me. A heads-up would be nice too but that can happen later.

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