What's That Rash?

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. ...

An old debate has been reignited after a review declared the effects of masks is uncertain and in need of further investigation.  Meanwhile Sydney scientists have found a receptor that sticks to the coronavirus and pulls it away from lung cells, opening up potential treatment avenues.  But for now, vaccines remain the best protection against severe disease. So when should you get your next booster...

Australian adults will be able to get a fifth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine within a fortnight. People aged 18 and over who've not had a COVID vaccine or a positive case in the last six months will also be eligible for another shot.

The majority of Australians have received at least two doses of a COVID vaccine — and they've most likely caught the virus as well.  New research suggests this hybrid immunity offers good protection against severe disease, although the risk of long COVID persists with even mild bouts of infection.  There could soon be a simple model to predict how likely you are to recover well from COVID, or whet...

It has been three years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global health emergency.  The WHO isn't ready to downgrade the status of the pandemic, but the committee has agreed we're at a 'transition' point.  Meanwhile an outbreak of influenza in mink has highlighted the need for greater animal-human disease surveillance.   

Although we didn't begin this year with any lockdowns or border closures, the pandemic hasn't abated. In fact we're off to a worse start than we had in 2022. Australia surpassed 1,000 deaths a whole week earlier than it did last year.  New subvariants are circulating fast. So what's changed? What's the best protection? And could sluggish surveillance be leaving us vulnerable?

What a year 2022 has been for COVID.  We started with a new variant sweeping the world, heavy restrictions and border closures and we end with very few restrictions remaining. We also sadly end with millions not fully vaccinated, and an aged care system that is still battling the virus. So on the last Coronacast of the year, we go down the 2022 rabbit hole and try to make some predictions for 2023...

The number of new weekly COVID cases seems to be slowing, but sadly doesn't seem to be slowing fast enough to be free of the current wave by Christmas. Last year was a strong COVID Christmas, as the Omicron variant took over from Delta bringing thousands and thousands of new cases. This time, the wave will be smaller - but still noticeable. And we break down the big announcements from National Cab...

There's been a lot of discussion about the origins of COVID, especially on the question of did it come from a lab, did it form naturally - or maybe a mix of both. Well a new book called Dark Winter has tackled this question and has come to the conclusion that we better get better at identifying outbreaks - because sometimes they're intentional. While there's no direct evidence that COVID came from...

Protests are breaking out across parts of China in response to the Chinese government zero COVID restrictions. The number of COVID cases has soared in China in recent weeks, rising at a similar rate to what happened in March this year. The outbreak was quickly brought under control, by the use of the Government's severe measures such as forced external quarantine and city wide lockdowns. But with...

There's hope that the current Omicron sub variant wave will be in decline again just in time for Christmas - but like everything COVID, it's hard to know for sure. Both case loads and hospitalisations due to COVID have continued to increase in the last week. The latest advice from state health authorities say that overseas experience suggests the current wave might pass relatively quickly, though...