Winter is coming in the southern hemisphere. In fact, it has arrived early in some parts with record cold, rain and even snow in May. It will come as a surprise to experts, bureaucrats, and politicians (but not regular readers here) that in winter there are an...
Last month saw the passing of Terry Jones, one of the members of Monty Python’s Flying circus and a comedy genius. Sadly it is unlikely that if formed today they would get a run on the BBC. A group of six “cis-gender white men” would not be regarded as “diverse...
Fairly quietly the effectiveness of this year’s flu vaccine in different ages groups has been released. Previously, Australis’s chief medical officer Professor Brendan Murphy, said this season’s vaccine, selected by the WHO, gave “moderate to good”...
If you make the same prediction often enough in a recurring event, there is a likelihood that one time you will be right. This is not a reflection on cleverness. Each year we get a prediction that the upcoming flu season will be terrible, possibly the worst ever. Most...
There is an old adage that the only certainty is change. Last week a new advisory, published in the BMJ, came out saying we do not need to finish a course of antibiotics. Interestingly one of the reasons for this is a compete reverse of the previous view. It was...
It is winter in the southern hemisphere and with this comes the usual winter illnesses. The vast majority of these are caused by viruses and do not need antibiotics. Yet it seems that many people still want antibiotics for cold and flu like illnesses and many doctors...
