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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.

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Virus on a boat – a belated graphic

Virus on a boat – a belated graphic

Remember when we all died from the pandemic that started on a cruise ship, caused by a passenger acquiring and spreading Orthohantavirus andesense? Me neither. That’s because we didn’t. And Read More ...

Well, the day had to come. “Bird flu” flies into Australia on a feathered wing.

Well, the day had to come. “Bird flu” flies into Australia on a feathered wing.

Lock up the chooks! According to Australia’s national broadcaster, Western Australia (WA) is the site for the first importation to the Australian mainland – via a bird – of an Read More ...

Looks like Flu has reset in Australia

Looks like Flu has reset in Australia

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a brand-new respiratory virus, SARS-CoV-2. With that introduction, as suspected, lots of things were thrown into disarray. One of those was the circulation of other respiratory Read More ...

A/H5N1 strain of avian influenza A virus (“bird flu”) confirmed in two dead birds in Australia

A/H5N1 strain of avian influenza A virus (“bird flu”) confirmed in two dead birds in Australia

Australia’s Minister for Agriculture has notified Australians that overnight laboratory testing confirmed the presence of A/H5N1 in one sick bird and an H5 virus in another, both found in the same region of 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 …

CategoriesEbola virusTagsDemocratic Republic of the Congo, Ebola virus disease, Zaire ebolavirus

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 …

CategoriesEbola virusTagsBDBV, Bundibugyo ebolavirus, Bundibugyo virus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, ebolavirus, outbreak

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 …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagscommunication, effectiveness, influenza, science communication, vaccination

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 …

CategoriesEbola virusTagsasymptomatic, Ebola virus, forest, mild disease

The hardcore anti-vaxxer and you

Posted onJuly 27, 2018July 27, 20184 Comments

Below is a scenario I recently encountered which was very familiar to me. Boringly so. I’ve tried to put some words around it in case recognising the flow and patterns Read More …

CategoriesVaccines & vaccinationTagsanti-vaccination, fake news, falsehoods, online abuse, social media

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 …

CategoriesParechovirus

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 …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagsAustralia, Flu, flu season, influenza, Queensland, Queensland Health

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 …

CategoriesInfluenza

Science and outreach: the good, the bad and why to get involved

Posted onJuly 4, 2018

Communication is at the heart of human interaction and yet science and outreach do not automatically go hand in hand. Sometimes it seems that science and medicine have forgotten how Read More …

CategoriesCommunication

Social media and scientists – the communication must go on

Posted onJune 29, 2018June 29, 20261 Comment

The grey (US: gray) literature is that written material which is not part of the “traditional” publishing model – unpublished, privately published or non-commercial writings.[1,2,10] GreyLit can also include blogs and Read More …

CategoriesCommunicationTagsSciComm, social media, SoMe

Rapid HTLV-1 associated disease onset: age and infective dermatitis in Bahia, Brazil

Posted onJune 28, 2018August 5, 2018

The Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) retrovirus infects an estimated 5 to 10 million people worldwide. Infection results in carriage of the virus but about 90% of carriers don’t Read More …

CategoriesHTLVTagsBahia, Brazil, HAM/TSP, HTLV-1, HTLV-1–associated myelopathy, IDH, Infective dermatitis associated to HTLV-1, Tropical spastic paraparesis

Reporting flu – tell the story don’t create fear…

Posted onJune 23, 2018April 11, 20195 Comments

“Flu cases jump by 256% in just five years” screams a newspaper headline from the Daily Mercury, a paywalled News Corp publication. It sure seems like scary stuff doesn’t it? Read More …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagsalarmist, Australia, headlines, influenza, media, seasonal influe

Ebola virus disease and the game-changing vaccine….

Posted onJune 10, 2018August 6, 2018

As the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) looks to be under control, how much the vaccine has helped remains an unanswered question. But Read More …

CategoriesEbola virus

Flu vaccination and effective communication…

Posted onJune 7, 2018February 18, 20261 Comment

A brief article about influenza (flu) vaccination appeared in The Conversation on Tuesday night. The piece, entitled “The flu vaccine is being oversold – it’s not that effective“, states that Read More …

CategoriesCommunication, Influenza

The forgotten benefits of the flu vaccine…

Posted onJune 6, 2018March 3, 20262 Comments

A…surprising…article about influenza (flu) vaccination appeared in the Conversation today. The piece, entitled “The flu vaccine is being oversold – it’s not that effective”, tells us that we are being Read More …

CategoriesInfluenza

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Recent Posts

  • Virus on a boat – a belated graphic July 13, 2026
  • There are a lot of people sick….again…in winter…. June 28, 2026
  • A/H5N1 strain of avian influenza A virus (“bird flu”) confirmed in two dead birds in Australia June 20, 2026
  • Well, the day had to come. “Bird flu” flies into Australia on a feathered wing. June 19, 2026
  • Looks like Flu has reset in Australia June 5, 2026
  • The ridiculously oversimplified claim that PCR can “detect one single molecule” May 26, 2026
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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

  • 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.
  • Looks like Flu has reset in Australia

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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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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