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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

#Flunami2019: Australia’s biggest confirmed flu count on record

Posted onSeptember 1, 2019February 28, 20261 Comment

For those who love a good multiple of 1,000, or enjoy drooling over the passing of a historical threshold, yesterday was such a day for influenza (flu) counts in Australia. Read More …

CategoriesUncategorized

They are us

Posted onMarch 16, 2019March 17, 2019

Kia Kaha New Zealand. Stay Strong. The use of hate and fear only creates more hate and fear. And it creates anger and loss. Tragic loss. Some articles online that Read More …

CategoriesUncategorized

Way up…

Posted onFebruary 9, 2019February 10, 20192 Comments

Australia has had a big summer of flu with numbers way up from what we’re used to. As my recent posts here and here flagged, it’s hard to know whether Read More …

CategoriesUncategorized

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

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Recent Posts

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All opinions are my own and do not represent medical advice or the views of any institution.

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

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Recent Posts

  • During COVID-19, we smashed flu
  • Virus on a boat – a belated graphic
  • There are a lot of people sick….again…in winter….
  • A/H5N1 strain of avian influenza A virus (“bird flu”) confirmed in two dead birds in Australia
  • Well, the day had to come. “Bird flu” flies into Australia on a feathered wing.

All opinions are my own and do not represent medical advice or the views of any institution.

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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