Guest Author • Apr 15, 2020 •
Professor Christine Stephens I was somewhat alarmed to find myself, as a 70-year-old, suddenly categorised as a member of a particularly vulnerable group. This is a group of people based only on the number of years that they have lived who have been singled out as needing to be extra careful and isolated earlier than others during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read More
Public Health Expert • Nov 07, 2018 •
Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael Baker, Dr Jennifer Summers, Dr Matt Boyd, Dr Ramona Tiatia Today is the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the SS Talune in Western Samoa. This single ship spread the influenza pandemic from NZ to Western Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji. Thanks to the Rt Hon Helen Clark, there has been an official apology to Samoa … Read More
Guest Author • Sep 10, 2018 •
Mark Eccleston-Turner, Keele University An Emirates airliner was quarantined at John F Kennedy International Airport on September 5 after several passengers reported flu-like symptoms. Oxiris Barbot, New York City’s acting health commissioner, said the cause of the illness was “probably influenza”. The following day, two more flights, arriving from the Middle East were quarantined at … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 25, 2018 •
Nadia Charania, Auckland University of Technology Most adults get around two to three colds a year, and children get even more. In terms of the flu, there are around 3-5 million severe cases of influenza worldwide each year and 290,000 to 650,000 deaths. The symptoms of a cold and the flu are similar, so it’s hard … Read More
Public Health Expert • Mar 26, 2018 •
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Matt Boyd, Dr Andrea Teng, Prof Tony Blakely Everyone knows that socio-economic inequalities in health exist – in recent times. But one thing we do not know is whether they have always been there. We have just published a study that looks at two historical datasets – with one of these suggesting life span differences by … Read More
Guest Author • Jan 16, 2018 •
Richard Gunderman, Indiana University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the great influenza pandemic of 1918. Between 50 and 100 million people are thought to have died, representing as much as 5 percent of the world’s population. Half a billion people were … Read More
Alison Campbell • Nov 20, 2017 •
A recent FB post from Stuff discussed the rising concerns about the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. (This is something that Siouxsie Wiles has often written about: here and here, for example; her excellent book on the subject is reviewed here.) Fairly predictably, it didn’t take long for the proponents of essential oils to turn up, soon to be joined by the … Read More
Public Health Expert • Sep 12, 2017 •
Nick Wilson, Ben Schrader, Geoff Rice, Christine Clement, George Thomson, Catharine Ferguson, Michael Baker Some statues are getting bad press at present – and rightly so for the Confederate military statues which represent the racist history of the Southern United States. But in this blog we briefly look at a particular New Zealand statue that we think characterises some of … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 28, 2017 •
David Griffin, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and Thomas Schulz, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity Since the 1980s, most of us have been aware we need to be careful when coming into contact with the blood of others, because some viruses can be transmitted in this way. But why is … Read More
Public Health Expert • Feb 01, 2017 •
By Dr Julia Scott, Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael Baker. In a globalised world an infectious disease outbreak anywhere is a potential threat to New Zealand. Recent such threats have included severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), pandemic influenza (2009), Ebola and Zika. In the context of an upcoming University of Otago, Wellington Public Health Summer School symposium on … Read More