Category Archives: swine flu

Is antibiotic resistance the “greatest failure of modern medicine”?

December 14, 2011 – 1:18 pm

(Following on from the previous post on infection control in hospitals.) The Centre for Research in Critical Infection held a meeting recently at the University of Sydney, where the threat of antibiotic resistance was a major topic of discussion. In the article below, the Centre’s director, Dr Jon Iredell, suggests that the lack of policy [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in infectious diseases, influenza, NHMRC, quality and safety of health care | Tagged , | Comments (0)

A legacy of swine flu: guidelines for public health officials & journalists dealing with epidemics

July 25, 2011 – 6:17 pm

During the swine flu pandemic, journalists in the US became concerned about inconsistencies in how jurisdictions handled the release of information about H1N1 cases and deaths. According to the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ), the disparate approaches – with some jurisdictions releasing specific information about the age, gender and residence of victims and others [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in infectious diseases, influenza, Media-related issues, public health | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (3)

Changes at the top of Federal Department of Health and Ageing

March 4, 2011 – 8:58 am

Two senior executives in the Department of Health and Ageing are moving on. Mary Murnane, a deputy secretary, is retiring. Her responsibilities have included the Office of Health Protection including Health Emergency; the Regulatory Policy and Governance Division with a special focus on: Therapeutics Goods Administration, Office of Gene Technology Regulator, Food Standards Australia and [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in primary health care, public health | Comments (6)

An infectious diseases soup: whooping cough, swine flu and “Delhi belly”

October 18, 2010 – 7:59 pm

Below is a soup of infectious diseases – a bit of whooping cough mixed in with swine flu and finished off with a dose of “Delhi belly”… Are parents getting good advice on whooping cough? NSW Health recently issued a warning for parents to be on alert for whooping cough (pertussis) following an increase in [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in child health, infectious diseases, influenza, Journal articles | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)

Blaming the public for low swine flu vaccination rates is not fair, and not helpful

September 10, 2010 – 1:58 pm

Dr Julie Leask, a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at the Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney, writes: A new report on the uptake of the swine flu vaccine shows what a few of us had predicted last year – that uptake would be low. The AIHW report shows that only 1 in 5 Australians [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in consumer health information, infectious diseases, influenza, vaccination, vaccines | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

An update on influenza, vaccination and other recent controversies

August 26, 2010 – 6:39 am

Herewith, a series of updates of recent news and views in the world of influenza, vaccination etc (including a rather stiff serve directed at the Federal Department of Health and Ageing…) Federal response to WA influenza vaccination review is sorely lacking As mentioned at Croakey previously, the WA Government recently released an important report reviewing [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in child health, influenza, Media-related issues, NHMRC, public health, quality and safety of health care, TGA, vaccination, vaccines | Tagged , , , , | Comments (8)

TGA releases details of investigations into flu jab and young children

July 8, 2010 – 1:24 pm

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has published the results of investigations into a spike in fevers and convulsions associated with  seasonal influenza vaccination of young children. The report details a range of investigations that have been undertaken. Of 123 reports of febrile convulsions in children under 5 received by June 4, the TGA says 100 cases [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in adverse events, child health, influenza, TGA, vaccination, vaccines | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Food and Drug Administration concerned about CSL’s influenza vaccine manufacturing practices

July 1, 2010 – 2:15 pm

The Food and Drug Administration in the US has released details of its concerns about CSL’s influenza vaccine manufacturing processes. It says, however, that it is not aware of any findings that endanger patients. The concerns relate to an inspection of CSL Biotherapies in Victoria during April 2010, when FDA investigators observed “deviations from current [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in adverse events, influenza | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Why advertising for cold and flu treatments makes me sick (and you as well)

June 30, 2010 – 12:18 pm

Companies flogging cold and flu treatments may be encouraging the spread of infections because their advertising is encouraging people to soldier on, rather than keeping themselves and their viruses tucked away at home. So says Dr Harry Hemley, president of the Australian Medical Association Victoria. He writes: “I’m getting increasingly irritated by direct to consumer [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health & medical marketing, infectious diseases, influenza | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

The marketing of influenza experts

June 11, 2010 – 4:43 pm

This past week has been extremely interesting for those who follow the news about pandemic influenza. We’ve had a report from the Council of Europe concluding that the World Health Organization (WHO), EU agencies and national governments’ handling of the pandemic led to a “waste of large sums of public money, and unjustified scares and [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health & medical marketing, infectious diseases, influenza | Comments (1)