Menu

Primary Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Ebola index
  • MERS Numbers
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.

Tag: Flu

Flu, genes, clades and H3N2

Posted onJuly 9, 2019July 20, 2019

We’ve talked earlier about clades; a term which relates to how we can put influenza (flu) viruses that sit under the broad title, “A/H3N2”, into subgroupings. Clades are a way Read More …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagsA/H3N2, alignment, clade, Flu, nucleotide sequencing, seasonal influenza, sequencing

Every flu season is a soup of viruses

Posted onJune 6, 2019July 4, 20196 Comments

It may surprise some to know that influenza isn’t caused by just one “flu virus”. There are multiple flu viruses which can all cause the flu and they are around Read More …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagsFlu, flunami, influenza, summer flu, why so much flu

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 …

CategoriesInfluenza, RhinovirusTagscommon cold, epidemic, Flu, household, influenza, outbreak, pandemic, respiratory viruses, vaccine

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

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

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

Influenza virus transmission: with or without symptoms, you’re dropping Flu virus

Posted onJanuary 14, 2018October 31, 202120 Comments

Influenza viruses infect our cells, but cell entry alone does not result in influenza (the disease). What happens after our cells get infected can depend on quite a few things. Read More …

CategoriesAerosols, InfluenzaTagsaerosol, airborne, droplet, droplet nuclei, Flu, influenza, influenza virus, transmission

Why the current influenza season is a big one…

Posted onDecember 27, 2017

We wrote a little something on this topic for the Conversation back in November. It may be of interest you in the northern hemisphere. You can read the entire piece, Read More …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagscommunity engagement, Flu, influenza, SciComm

Flu is a slippery virus, a tough vaccine target and a challenge to contain…

Posted onNovember 5, 2017February 18, 20253 Comments

Much was made of a regrettable interview earlier in the week about the Australian equivalent Flu vaccine. Some of the headlines included… Ouch. Prof. Paul Van Buynder was quoted as Read More …

CategoriesInfluenza, Vaccines & vaccinationTagsAustralia, epidemic, Flu, quadrivalent vaccine, vaccine

Flu has long been associated with death in younger adults: it is known

Posted onNovember 3, 2017May 24, 2018

A very short post just to highlight that younger adults have been linked to Flu deaths for many years. This is still far less often than occurs among the elderly Read More …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagsdeath, Flu, influenza, mortality, vaccine

A look at public reporting of Flu in Australia…

Posted onSeptember 23, 2017July 15, 20234 Comments

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 …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsAustralia, epidemiology, Flu, flu season, public data, public health, reporting

Queensland Flu season gives us the cold shoulder…

Posted onSeptember 21, 2017October 27, 20172 Comments

The latest Flu data, fresh from the excellent Epidemiology Research Unit, Communicable Diseases Branch, Queensland Health, shows the usual post-winter spike (shoulder) in Flu cases and the subsequent plunge thanks Read More …

CategoriesUncategorizedTagsepidemiology, Flu, FluA, H3N2, influenza, Queensland

Influenza on the brain….

Posted onSeptember 21, 2017October 17, 20181 Comment

Influenza, (Flu), caused by influenza viruses, is what we all think of as a respiratory disease. It can cause acute mild upper respiratory tract illness. It can cause acute severe Read More …

CategoriesInfluenzaTagscentral nervous system, Flu, influenza, neuroinfluenza

More of VDU

  • Pinterest
  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Mastodon

Recent Posts

  • What if Harvard loses? April 19, 2025
  • Measles takes your immune memories April 9, 2025
  • A measles infographic: virus, symptoms and white blood cells March 27, 2025
  • United States influenza: biggest season in 15 years of data February 18, 2025
  • No new A/H7N8 chook farms hit in Victoria so far February 17, 2025
  • The US 2024-2025 flu season and the vaccine February 13, 2025
  • A good news RSV vaccine story for adults February 5, 2025
  • Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in Australia – a 2022 study and the current state January 29, 2025
  • Not the “Chinese flu” label thing again…please January 6, 2025
  • SNAPDATE: MPOX cases in Australia, 14.09.2024 September 14, 2024
  • In Australia, COVID-19 deaths may have stopped decreasing September 6, 2024
  • It takes a while to gather death data September 5, 2024
  • Update on Monkeypox virus (MPXV) transmission in Australia August 6, 2024
  • More PCR cycles don’t mean magic results August 5, 2024
  • Stop Hijacking Definitions To Farm Anger And Clicks! December 29, 2023

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
  • Crawford Kilian’s infectious disease blog
  • Pathogen perspectives: Ebola and more
  • ProMED mail
  • WHO Disease Outbreak News
  • HealthMap
  • STAT News
  • CIDRAP-timely infectious disease reporting
  • Maia Majumder’s blog
  • Kai Kupferschmidt
  • Martin Enserink
  • EpiRamblings

 

Recent Posts

  • What if Harvard loses?
  • Measles takes your immune memories
  • A measles infographic: virus, symptoms and white blood cells
  • United States influenza: biggest season in 15 years of data
  • No new A/H7N8 chook farms hit in Victoria so far

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.

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Twitter: @mackayim

Copyright © 2025 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
  • Ebola index
  • MERS Numbers