Monthly Archives: October 2010

A Universal Flu Vaccine?

Posted on October 26, 2010 by David Esteban

The flu comes back year after year, and every season we get vaccinated (well, some of us anyway).  Why do we need to keep getting a new shot for the flu while for others, like measles, we got way back … Continue reading →

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Posted in Epidemics, Immunology, Uncategorized, Vaccines | Tagged , , , | 26 Comments

1918 and 2009

Posted on October 12, 2010 by David Esteban

The 1918 influenza pandemic (the “Spanish Flu”), by some estimates, killed as many as 100 million people in a very short period of time.  The 2009 “Swine Flu” pandemic didnt kill so many, but it spread rapidly and widely across … Continue reading →

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Posted in Epidemics, Evolution, Immunology, Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

Colony Collapse Disorder: Is a virus causing bees to disappear?

Posted on October 7, 2010 by David Esteban

My daughter, who is only 4 and has been stung twice, would probably be happy to see all bees disappear.  But bees are important pollinators and we depend on them for many crops.  A very puzzling disorder has been causing … Continue reading →

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Discovering new viruses: What is causing acute flaccid paralysis in South Asia?

Posted on October 5, 2010 by David Esteban

There are only a few places in the world where polio is still endemic. Polio normally infects the gut and is usually asymptomatic, but sometimes spreads to the nervous system and causes acute flaccid paralysis (AFP).  In South Asia, AFP … Continue reading →

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Posted in Epidemics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreak

Posted on October 4, 2010 by David Esteban

CCHF is disease that is usually transmitted by  contact with blood of infected animals, usually farm animals, or ticks.  As such, most people infected work in agriculture or butchering and tanning.  In rare cases, CCHF transmission has been observed to … Continue reading →

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Posted in Epidemics | 1 Comment