COVID-19 in Australia
As the cases begin to build up – but are still pretty low with limited community spread having been detected – now is a good time to start watching where Read More …
Tag: Australia
The 2019 Flunami was more than just increased testing
The Flunami (see a definition here before you decide upon your own dear reader) has been a rising tide of influenza cases. It was more than just increased testing though. Read More …
SunFluwer…
Just for fun, I thought I’d check in on Australia’s influenza tally again. I posted my last tally 3 days ago (Jan 18) and upon looking today (Jan 21), it’s Read More …
Flu keeps Australia under the weather
Influenza has been unseasonably hyperactive during Australia’s hotter and wetter months at the end of 2018 and the start of 2019. In what’s shaping up to be our biggest summer Read More …
Influenza seasons are unpredictable: deal with it
Mainstream Australian media are reporting that influenza cases in Australia have dropped by 83 per cent. Doctors have also said this is the result of science, guesswork and “a bit Read More …
Queensland influenza keeping it cool….
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 …
Reporting flu – tell the story don’t create fear…
“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 …
Human T-Lymphotropic Virus type 1 (HTLV-1): a primer
What is HTLV-1? HTLV-1 is a human delta retrovirus assigned to the genus Deltaretrovirus, species Primate T-lymphotropic virus 1 [5]. It was first described in 1980.[10] Soon thereafter Japanese researchers identified endemic virus, Read More …
HTLV-1 primers: a list of some that have been published in the scientific literature
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 …
HTLV-I is not new to Australia but a proper strategic response to it would be
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 …
Flu vaccines and children: coming free to most Australian States and Territories in 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 …
Flu is a slippery virus, a tough vaccine target and a challenge to contain…
Much was made of a regrettable interview earlier in the week about the Australian equivalent Flu vaccine. Some of the headlines included… “Cut-price flu jabs too weak to work” “Cheaper Read More …
A look at public reporting of Flu in Australia…
I’ve spent a bit more time on Flu reports this year than in past years, so I thought I might compare the data that the public can see. There are Read More …
Flu is bad…in many ways…
A Mum  gives birth to a baby but she is too ill with influenza to know it.[1] As we read another tragic story of the severe impact from disease (in Read More …
Flu-associated deaths in Victoria…
I’m not joking around when I say vaccines have been created to reduce the worst of the diseases caused by some infectious nasties. We all know about the success of Read More …