What's That Rash?

In the early days of COVID, it seemed like we were getting new variants of concern every few months. Wuhan led to Alpha then to Delta via a side trip to Beta for parts of the world. But ever since Omicron came in like a wrecking ball at the end of 2021... sure there has been a lot of new sub-variants, but no new challenger to take on the Big Boss. So could Omicron be the final variant? Are things...

It seems like a mere week ago that we were talking about the last new variant - because it was only a week ago. Move over Eris, there's a new variant in town: Pirola.  Unlike most of the recent strains going around, this one branched off further back in the Omicron family tree.  But what of the usual questions: is it better at evading immunity? Does it cause worse disease? How do I protect myself?...

Wherever you look, viruses are going into and coming out of animals. Mostly this happens without much fanfare, though occasionally it causes big problems. Which is why it's concerning that researchers in Europe have started to sound the alarm about fur farms in Europe and other researchers looking at pig farms have found more swine flu variants than they expected. So what's going on? References: I...

If you think that excavating your nose is a harmless if somewhat disgusting habit - think again. A new study reckons you could emerge with COVID-19. Other studies worry about how forgetful having your fingernail so close to the brain might make you. And have you ever given thought to your nasal microbiome much less what our primate cousins get up to (hint: it's even more disgusting)? We drill deep...

We've said it before and we'll say it again - make sure you get your booster dose.  But what, you ask, is in it for me? How likely am I to be the one who dodges severe disease?  Well a new study has quantified this. It's a number familiar to epidemiologists - the number needed to treat to prevent a certain outcome.  Also this week: where are we at with repurposing existing drugs to prevent COVID? ...

In the early days of COVID, we used wastewater surveillance to spot undetected community transmission. Our sewage gave public health authorities early alerts that COVID was spreading. Wastewater surveillance also gives information on sub variants: what's on the rise and what's in decline. But there's other stuff in wastewater - and it's downright criminal.  That's captured on today's rather smelly...

A lot has been said about COVID antivirals, especially on how they might help bring down the number of deaths from the disease. But occasionally an interesting phenomenon occurs: a patient takes the antiviral drugs, feels better, only to come down with COVID again. So how do COVID antivirals work and why does the rebound sometimes happen?

It's the depths of winter, and every second person you know has a cold of some sort.  Most are mild but some can hit hard - as we all know from COVID and influenza. But what about the third virus in the unholy trinity of winter bugs?  RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is tracking a lot higher than usual for this time of year.  Who's most at risk, how can you protect yourself, and how much do th...

It was a massive question at the start of the pandemic: is Sweden's strategy of keeping things open a better way forward? Zoom ahead a few years, and it's still on the minds of Coronacast listeners. This week, we're digging into what happened in Sweden and we also answer a question about the psychological impact of the pandemic on teenagers. Everything and more, on this week's Coronacast. Ask a qu...

Our immune system does an amazing job keeping us healthy - but it works in mysterious ways, especially when it comes into contact with novel viruses like SARS-CoV-2. We've talked a bit before about imprinting - the concept where the first time your immune system sees a virus can determine how it'll react to that virus in the future. And a recent study in the prestigious journal Science has found t...

We've all heard that COVID spreads in clusters and sometimes the cluster comes from a single person who can infect nearly everyone around them. They're superspreaders and it's been opaque how much virus a superspreader is actually responsible for spreading around. Now a study has found that in a group of deliberately infected people, just two of them were responsible for nearly 90 percent of all t...

Sometimes a study comes along that shows some amazing results and one published in The Lancet does just that. The study - which looked at people aged between 30 and 85 who were overweight or had obesity - has found a "globally available, low-cost, and safe" diabetes drug called metformin could drastically reduce the instances of long COVID by 40 per cent. Sadly they didn't find the same results wi...

Tegan has been playing away, making another show. It's called Quick Smart, and because you're such a loyal Coronacast listener, we'll give you a preview here.  If you like it, please find the Quick Smart feed and subscribe!  This first ep is about something weird that's happened in the last 12 months or so - the fact that all your friends - and perhaps you as well - have ADHD now. So where did thi...

The public health measures we relied on in years past to control COVID have now largely gone. Social distancing is no more and there aren't nearly as many masks around as there once was and we're grossly under-immunised. So what about antivirals? Could making them more available to more people be a way to reduce the amount of severe disease and limit the waves of COVID? Watch us on YouTube:  https...

Long COVID has nearly been around as long as COVID itself.  It wasn't long after the pandemic began before we started hearing about long haulers - people who were suffering from the virus long after testing negative. But even today, we still don't know the precise definitions of what exactly long COVID is and how many people suffer from it. But we are getting closer to a clearer picture. So why is...

In 2021, Aussies were queueing round the block quite literally for COVID-19 vaccines one and two.

As respiratory disease goes, COVID got us good. But it's important we don't forget the old school ones like flu and RSV. There's quite a bit of flu around at the moment too. It could even be described as a surge.  So what's going on? Why are we being attacked by COVID, flu and RSV all at once? Also on today's show: * Remember that time a stranger made Norman stick something up his nose in an aband...

With the World Health Organisation (WHO) announcing that COVID-19 is no longer a "global health emergency", you'd be forgiven for thinking the pandemic's over. But alas, it isn't. According to WHO, the "emergency" phase is over but COVID will remain a persistent threat for a lot longer, saying the disease is still killing someone every three minutes. So how can COVID no longer be an emergency, but...

The Omicron variant has been spinning off all sorts of sub variants during its 17 month long reign. The latest is XBB.1.16 - known also as Arcturus - and like its sibling sub variants doesn't seem to be all that different. But while Arcturus is busy trying to become the most popular sub variant of the month, we are undergoing another wave of infections.  There are hundreds of people in hospitals a...

The coronavirus pandemic might not be a 'pandemic' for much longer So, looking ahead, experts have come together to propose countermeasures for future epidemics and pandemics.  It's all about transparency and equity at a global scale.  References: It is time for ambitious, transformational change to the epidemic countermeasures ecosystem

A team has analysed data out of China, proving the presence of animals in the Wuhan market capable of hosting SARS-CoV-2.

Another wave of COVID infections seems to be underway in parts of Australia, and NSW is leading the pack.  The variant soup is getting more complex by the day — but luckily the dominant mutations don't seem to be causing more severe disease.  Regardless, as more people get infected and re-infected, researchers are fast at work trying to determine what might protect people from long-term consequenc...

In 2022, Australia saw an estimated 12% increase in the number of deaths compared to expert predictions.  More than half of those were due to COVID-19. And there are signs that even the deaths that couldn't be directly linked to COVID-19 are a result of the pandemic.  This pattern isn't just playing out in Australia, but around the globe. So what are the driving factors, and what can be done to ad...

Since ATAGI updated its booster advice there have been lots of questions about why kids aren't able to get another jab.  We discuss the reasoning behind the age limit, as well as some other vaccine-related questions from listeners.  Also, a few controversial COVID topics... from Ivermectin to the US Energy Department's theory on where the virus came from.  References: COVID-19 vaccines for childre...

Antivirals are an important measure to prevent severe disease in vulnerable people with COVID-19.  But there have been concerns antivirals could lead to rebound infections — the resurgence of viral load following the completion of the medication. So what do the latest studies say? Also, we speak to an expert informing the parliamentary inquiry into long COVID about how to best care for patients. ...