Influenza
Category archives for Influenza
Student guest post: Seasonal Flu Vaccine: Why we need it
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 27, 2013 It’s time for this year’s second installment of student guest posts for my class on infectious causes of chronic disease. Fifth one this year is by Nai-Chung Chang. Of the many health problems that everyone is bound to have at some point, influenza, or just “the flu,” is one of the most prominent. In fact, we call…
What’s up with H7N9, the new avian influenza?
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 10, 2013 I have a new article up today at Slate, examining the emergent H7N9 avian influenzas, and a bit of a review of “bird flu” in general: While we were carefully watching H5N1 in Asia and Europe, another influenza virus—2009 H1N1—appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Ultimately traced back to swine, this virus was easily spread between…
Holy influenza, batman!
Posted by Tara C. Smith on February 28, 2012 Typically when we think of flying things and influenza viruses, the first images that come to mind are wild waterfowl. Waterbirds are reservoirs for an enormous diversity of influenza viruses, and are the ultimate origin of all known flu viruses. In birds, the virus replicates in the intestinal tract, and can be spread to other…
Biblical fever = influenza. You’re kidding me, right?
Posted by Tara C. Smith on August 10, 2010 Via Bob O’H and Cath Ennis comes this truly bizarre article from the Virology Journal: “Influenza or not influenza: Analysis of a case of high fever that happened 2000 years ago in Biblical time”. Now, regular readers will know that I normally love this type of thing; digging back through history to look at Lincoln’s…
The consequences of refusal
Posted by Tara C. Smith on October 22, 2009 I’ve written previously about “chicken pox parties”. These types of events are coming back into vogue (they were common in the days before the vaccine, when the only way to provide immunity was to be infected), as parents mistakenly believe that “natural exposures” to these pathogens are somehow superior–and safer–than vaccinations. Though the latest rage…
Why I’ll be getting my kids their flu vaccines
Posted by Tara C. Smith on September 18, 2009 Taking a brief hiatus from my hiatus to discuss a question I’ve been asked a number of times in recent weeks by friends and family: what about flu shots? Are you getting one for yourself? Your kids? The answer is yes to both, with more explanation after the jump.
Misc. links
Posted by Tara C. Smith on May 4, 2009 Back to the grind this week unfortunately, but the swine flu/H1N1 story is still developing and still fascinating. The most recent numbers show 286 confirmed US cases in 36 states. There are many remaining questions on the evolution and epidemiology of this strain–and many pundits sure they know what’s going to happen next. Mike takes…
Why are the schools closing and other good H1N1 links…
Posted by Tara C. Smith on May 3, 2009 Over at DailyKos, DemfromCT has an excellent post explaining why it may be beneficial for schools to close temporarily, even if they only have one confirmed case of swine influenza: H1N1: Why Do Schools Close, And When Do They Open? DarkSyde also has one up on the basic biology and evolution of the flu. Nick…
Adamantane resistance in flu explained
Posted by Tara C. Smith on May 1, 2009 Nick Anthis has a very nice (and very readable!) overview of why flu viruses (including the new A/H1N1 strain) are resistant to adamantane, one of the antiviral drugs that can be used to treat influenza infections.
What does the WHO’s pandemic scale mean? And why is anyone worried about this?
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 30, 2009 I’ve been seeing a lot of comments mocking the current outbreak of H1N1, and a lot of people (and journalists) who don’t understand what “big deal” is about the “snoutbreak” of swine influenza, or don’t get what the raising of the World Health Organization’s pandemic alert phase up to 5 means. I noted here what…