Menu

Primary Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • About Me
  • glossary
Show Header Sidebar Content

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.

Latest posts...

don't forget to signup, login, follow and Like them!

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 ...

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)…a primer for virus detection

Posted onMay 5, 2018May 1, 2026

The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a cyclical enzyme-driven amplification technique for copying a DNA template into billions of copies. IMPORTED POST* What it does well The purpose of Read More …

CategoriesPCRTagsmethod, polymerase chain reaction, reverse transcription, RT-PCR

HTLV-1 primers: a list of some that have been published in the scientific literature

Posted onMay 1, 2018March 15, 2019

In recent weeks there has been a surge in media interest about a virus called human T-lymphotropic virus I (HTLV-1) that is present among the Indigenous Australians living in communities Read More …

CategoriesHTLV, PCRTagsAustralia, diagnostics, HTLV, HTLV-1c, qPCR, real-time PCR, viral load

HTLV-I is not new to Australia but a proper strategic response to it would be

Posted onMay 1, 2018March 15, 20191 Comment

Recent news stories from the Gaurdian and elsewhere have highlighted the serious issue of Aboriginal Australians living in Central Australia (the generalised region, not a State or Territory of Australia) Read More …

CategoriesHTLVTagsAustralia, history, HTLV, HTLV-1c, retrovirus

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

Is increased testing at the root of Australia’s biggest ever first quarter of Flu cases…?

Posted onApril 7, 2018June 11, 2019

I’ve seen some media reporting an “early start to the flu season”. Is this true? The short answer is – I don’t know. Let’s explore why I can’t answer my Read More …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagsepidemiology, Flu, influenza, notifications, seasonal influenza

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

Flu vaccines and children: coming free to most Australian States and Territories in 2018

Posted onMarch 4, 2018May 29, 2018

UPDATE #2. Back in October 2017, Queensland Health, Queensland Government (Australia) held a summit following on from our horrendous year of influenza.[1] One of the announcements associated with that summit Read More …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagsAustralia, influenza, seasonal influenza, vaccination

Flu numbers from the US…Peaky McPeakFace

Posted onMarch 3, 2018March 4, 2018

This year’s annual influenza (flu) H3N2 epidemic in the United States (US) has peaked. It’s been a big season in the US and the United Kingdom and in Canada, as it was Read More …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagsepidemic curve, epidemiology, Flu, H3N2, influenza, seasonal influenza, United States of America

World’s most dangerous animals set free…digitally

Posted onMarch 1, 2018June 19, 2020

You may have heard that from June 2018 onwards [1], a new mosquito emoji (from Japanese e (çµµ, “picture”) + moji (文字, “character”) [2]) will start rolling out to all Read More …

CategoriesCommunication, MosquitoTagsbacteria, communication, disease communication, emoji, mosquito, science communication, Unicode Consortium, virus

Flu may not be peaking even if it looks like it is right now…and here’s why

Posted onFebruary 10, 2018February 17, 20257 Comments

According to the latest flu report, the United States (US) influenza (Flu) season looks like it has peaked.[1] And perhaps it has. But the graphs are only as solid as Read More …

CategoriesCommunication, InfluenzaTagsepidemiology, influenza, lag, reporting, seasonal influenza, United States of America

Where is H7N9 in 2018?

Posted onJanuary 31, 20186 Comments

I’ve been watching avian influenza A(H7N9) virus cases in humans since they popped onto the radar in 2013 (it was among my first blogs, “H7N9 deaths” [1]). So I’m confident when Read More …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagsavian influenza, China, epidemiology, H7N9

Influenza type B viruses passes the baton to type A viruses in China…

Posted onJanuary 31, 2018May 2, 2018

What starts out as an influenza (Flu) A/H3N2 season may end up being a Flu B/Yamagata season. Or vice versa. Or with different players altogether. Flu is tricksy. We see Read More …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagsChina, exchange, influenza, seasonal influenza

Second human influenza A/H7N9 case for 2017/8 season…

Posted onJanuary 17, 2018January 18, 2018

It’s been a very slow start to the H7N9 season (=spillovers from infected poultry to susceptible humans) in China. Why it’s been so slow is unclear. The Hong Kong (HK) Centre for Read More …

CategoriesH7N9, InfluenzaTagsavian influenza, China, H7N9, influenza

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

Post navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

More of VDU

  • Pinterest
  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Mastodon

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
  • Just 0.7% of of universally screened asymptomatic patients produced unrepeatable PCR tests May 2, 2026
  • A little virus that still can: poliovirus and poliomyelitis May 1, 2026
  • Age and COVID-19: What’s with all the young kids? April 14, 2026
  • Asymptomatic, acute and persistent COVID-19 symptom changes over the course of three infections March 5, 2026
  • How are asymptomatic COVID-19 cases tracking? March 2, 2026
  • Another way to look at flu season size February 28, 2026
  • Whooping cough in 2024 was huge in Australia, but is declining in 2025 and 2026 February 19, 2026
  • Pathology lab PCR is not research lab PCR January 27, 2026
  • Is there more flu in Australia and New Zealand than normal for Christmas? Hell Yes! December 27, 2025

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.

Tags

anti-vaccination asymptomatic Australia avian influenza China Democratic Republic of the Congo DRC Ebola virus Ebola virus disease epidemic epidemiology EVD Flu flunami flu season genotype H1N1 H3N2 H7N9 HTLV HTLV-1c influenza influenza virus MERS MERS-CoV molecular epidemiology outbreak PCR pneumonia Queensland reporting respiratory virus rhinovirus RT-PCR SciComm science communication seasonal influenza social media SoMe summer transmission United States of America vaccine Wuhan Zaire ebolavirus

Regular reads…

  • FluTrackers-everything infectious, before it happens
  • Mike Coston’s Avian Flu Diary
  • ProMED mail
  • WHO Disease Outbreak News
  • HealthMap
  • STAT News
  • CIDRAP-timely infectious disease reporting
  • Kai Kupferschmidt
  • Martin Enserink

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.

Bluesky: @mackayim.bsky.social

Threads: @mackayim.2024

Mastodon: @mackayim2022@mastodon.social

 

Copyright © 2026 Virology Down Under. All Rights Reserved.
• The following link is used to verify that I 'own' the domain
for use with Mastodon
Theme: Clean Box Pro
Scroll Up
  • Home
  • About Me
  • glossary

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.

Skip to content ↓