influenza
Tag archives for influenza
Student guest post: Chirp, Chirp, Sneeze!
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 19, 2013 Student guest post by Julia Wiederholt I don’t think there is a single person that can claim to have never had the joyous experience (sarcasm intended) of suffering from the influenza. We all recognize the common symptoms that accompany this infectious little virus taking up residence in our bodies: the chills accompanying a fever, the…
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…
New site–”History of Vaccines”
Posted by Tara C. Smith on October 4, 2010 This is great. The College of Physicians of Philadelphia has launched a site on The History of Vaccines. I’ve been poking around, and there’s an incredible amount of stuff to check out. They have a nice FAQ, Top 20 questions about vaccination, as well as some great activities (herd immunity! learn about Koch’s postulates! understand…
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…
Fear & vaccines
Posted by Tara C. Smith on October 21, 2009 I realize that, despite the scientific evidence to the contrary, there is still a lot of fear and misunderstanding about vaccine safety. Two recent articles discuss this “epidemic of fear” and why it affects us all, the first here at Wired magazine, and the second here at the Gotham Skeptic. I especially like the second,…
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.
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…