During COVID-19, we smashed flu
Seasonal influenza viruses (as shown in the image below) drive epidemics that rely on both year-round circulation in the tropics and air travel, using giant conveyor belts of virus distribution, 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.
Latest posts
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 ...
There are a lot of people sick….again…in winter….
Yep. It’s a time of year in many parts of the world when viruses that love a warm human airway, kick it up a notch – influenza, respiratory syncytial virus Read More ...
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 ...
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
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 ...
The ridiculously oversimplified claim that PCR can “detect one single molecule”
There’s so much more to these four words than is attributed to them, so I thought I’d better write that down instead of leaving it in my head. Here’s hoping Read More ...
Just 0.7% of of universally screened asymptomatic patients produced unrepeatable PCR tests
A recent paper entitled “Diagnostic Value and Outcomes of Systematic SARS-CoV-2 Screening in Asymptomatic Patients” highlights the need for innovative contextual actions in response to positive PCR results during exceptional Read More ...
A little virus that still can: poliovirus and poliomyelitis
A few things about poliomyelitis (‘polio’) and poliovirus, the enterovirus that causes this disease. What is Polio? Polio is the name used to describe a paralytic disease. It is caused Read More ...
Age and COVID-19: What’s with all the young kids?
Inspired by an online conversation and the hard work of others, I set off to examine age groupings among Australians confirmed as COVID-19 cases, based on testing using a quality-laboratory Read More ...
Asymptomatic, acute and persistent COVID-19 symptom changes over the course of three infections
Data from a UK healthcare worker cohort published in 2024 examined how signs and symptoms of COVID-19 changed after 1, 2, or 3 SARS-CoV-2 lab-confirmed infections. Those with no symptoms Read More ...
How are asymptomatic COVID-19 cases tracking?
In the first year of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, data were assembled that defined how the virus spread among us, who, at the time, had never been infected. But the world’s Read More ...
Another way to look at flu season size
Peak height, number of cases, deaths, severity – these are all terms that are used to give you an idea of how big a flu season has been. Here’s another Read More ...
Whooping cough in 2024 was huge in Australia, but is declining in 2025 and 2026
The risks of declining childhood vaccination include a resurgence of dangerous infectious diseases driven by airborne pathogens such as Bordetella pertussis, the bacterium that causes whooping cough (also called pertussis). A Read More ...
Pathology lab PCR is not research lab PCR
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) use in the pathology lab differs from research-based PCR in two fundamental ways, namely quality and clinical expertise. These are essential to producing a clinical diagnosis supported by Read More ...