How many common cold viruses in one place, in one season?

Posted onSeptember 2, 2018September 22, 20203 Comments

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….

Posted onAugust 31, 2018May 19, 2019

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

Posted onAugust 24, 2018August 25, 2018

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 …

Flu is giving Australia a breather….

Posted onAugust 21, 2018August 25, 2018

August is the traditional Australian peak influenza (flu) month. The peak can move around a bit but it usually flu virus party time, followed in size by September. We’re two-thirds of Read More …

Minding the gap: looking at numbers early in an outbreak

Posted onAugust 15, 2018August 25, 20182 Comments

The second Ebola virus disease for 2018 continues to unfold in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nearly two weeks have passed since the official announcement of the outbreak by the Read More …

SNAPDATE: Ebola virus numbers

Posted onAugust 8, 2018August 25, 2018

The latest Ebola virus disease (EVD) figures of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Ministry of Health (MOH) are out and I’ve plotted them below. The important numbers remain Read More …

The proportion of fatal cases (PFC)…

Posted onAugust 6, 2018August 25, 2018

In July 2013 I coined an initialism for Virology Down Under (VDU) to avoid using the term Case Fatality Ratio/Rate/Risk (CFR); the Proportion of Fatal Cases (PFC). IMPORTED POST* I use Read More …

Ebola virus disease numbers from a double-province outbreak

Posted onAugust 5, 2018August 6, 20182 Comments

In spectacularly rapid fashion, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has started it’s daily, very detailed, Ebola virus disease updates to cover the case details and Read More …

A second outbreak of an ebolavirus in the DRC

Posted onAugust 2, 2018July 25, 2019

The Ministry of Health (MOH), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has confirmed 4 new ebolavirus cases in a new location. Earlier there had been reports of 26 cases Read More …

Influenza vaccines do have an effect and we need to do more to understand it

Posted onAugust 1, 2018October 15, 20183 Comments

Sometimes it’s hard to convey complex issues in a short-form article written for a general public audience. Other times, stories start off with an overly-simplified title they never recover from. Occasionally they lack any Read More …

Yes, there were signs that Ebola was in west Africa, perhaps as far back as 1973

Posted onJuly 31, 2018July 31, 2018

If a bat carries the Ebola virus or something related in the forest, people find signs of infection in humans, publish it and read about it, but no-one remembers, does Read More …

Parechovirus on the brain

Posted onJuly 20, 2018August 25, 2018

Two recent papers have added to growing recognition that long-term neurological outcomes can follow severe parechovirus (HPeV) infection of the central nervous system (CNS), in the very young.[1,2] The first Read More …

Queensland influenza keeping it cool….

Posted onJuly 20, 2018July 20, 2018

This week’s influenza (flu) data from Queensland’s Department of Health suggest that the virus is toying with Queenslanders – and much of Australia – this season. The total number of Read More …

Influenza virus haemagglutination: a sticky technique that does a lot of lifting

Posted onJuly 15, 2018July 15, 20186 Comments

Haemagglutination (hemagglutination if you’re from the US) is the sticking (-agglutination) together of red blood cells (RBCs). Haem is the iron-containing, oxygen-transporting portion of haemoglobin, a molecule found in RBCs. This laboratory Read More …

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.

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