Face off

We touch our faces often. Maybe 3 to 23 times an hour often! But if our hands haven’t just been washed and we’ve touched surfaces contaminated by viruses surviving in Read More ...

COVID-19 is not a virus, but SARS-CoV-2 is

For about two weeks we lived with, published using, and talked about, a disease-causing virus called the “novel coronavirus”. That name was always going to create problems like, what do Read More ...

COVID-19 cases slow a little in Australia

Our borders have been shut to non-citizens for about a week and despite being regularly admonished for being terrible at obeying confusing, constantly changing or poorly communicated new rules, the Read More ...

Past Time to Tell the Public: “It Will Probably Go Pandemic, and We Should All Prepare Now”

Posted onFebruary 23, 2020February 23, 2020297 Comments

by Jody Lanard and Peter M. Sandman NOTE FROM IAN: The expert risk communication team of Lanard and Sandman has given me permission to post their very well-considered reply to Read More …

Not so novel: numbers: around COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2

Posted onFebruary 20, 2020March 28, 20202 Comments

A mammoth overview was just released by researchers from the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (their website is a bit slow right now so have patience).[1] It broke Read More …

Flight of the aerosol

Posted onFebruary 9, 2020March 17, 2020Leave a comment

Understanding what we mean when we discuss airborne virus infection risk. An article collaboratively written by (alphabetically).. Dr. Katherine ArdenA former postdoctoral researcher with interests in the detection, culture, characterization and epidemiology of respiratory viruses.Dr Graham Read More …

Wuhan remains the source, for now

Posted onJanuary 21, 2020January 22, 20202 Comments

Cases of the novel Wuhan coronavirus remain anchored in contact with the city of Wuhan in Hubei province. When that changes and we see human-to-human (h2h) spread occur outside of Read More …

Novel Wuhan coronavirus cases leap up

Posted onJanuary 20, 2020January 21, 20202 Comments

Confirmed cases of the novel Wuhan coronavirus have gone from 62 detected in Wuhan (and 3 exports that we knew of then) to over 200 after a jump of 136 Read More …

China +2

Posted onJanuary 16, 2020January 21, 2020Leave a comment

Two countries, in addition to China, have now had visits from the novel Wuhan coronavirus, detected in travellers with respiratory symptoms. Thailand and Japan have each reported a case and Read More …

Some human-to-human transmission isn't surprising in Wuhan

Posted onJanuary 16, 2020January 16, 20203 Comments

A couple of people have asked me lately if they should be worried about the novel Wuhan coronavirus. Which got me to thinking. Much of what we sciencey types chat Read More …

Viral pneumonia cluster in Wuhan, central China: 44 cases and counting

Posted onJanuary 3, 2020January 4, 20204 Comments

Welcome to 2020 in which we already have reports of our first cluster of viral-pneumonia-of-unknown-cause cases, generating worldwide media and evoking memories of the sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus Read More …

There are plenty of placebo-controlled vaccine trials

Posted onDecember 31, 2019December 31, 20191 Comment

The agglomeration of anti-vaxxers love to plague us with their pro-disease perfidy. They really enjoy wheeling out the lie that vaccines have never been tested with a placebo. Turns out, Read More …

Measles in Samoa – a couple of referenced facts

Posted onDecember 30, 2019December 30, 20192 Comments

Measles has killed 81 people in Samoa so far, mostly children. Meanwhile, like a pack of hyenas laughing maniacally off stage, the anti-vaccination cult is drooling over the harm and 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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