WITH hopes high that the northern hemisphere flu season is about to recede, it seems a good time to point out that, unlike annual outbreaks that fade as spring arrives, flu pandemics don’t respect seasons. A hundred years ago, the worst such pandemic on record was just starting – the first case was recorded on 4 March 1918 – and north of the equator it wouldn’t peak until the autumn…
This article first appeared in New Scientist on 3 March 2018. To continue reading, click here (paywall).
TUNE into a discussion of how diseases get their names on BBC Radio 4’s Word of Mouth, hosted by Michael Rosen with linguist Laura Wright, and guests me and Prof Peter Piot, who co-discovered Ebola, was a pioneer in the science of AIDS, and now heads up the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine…
This programme first aired on 6 February 2018. To listen, click here.
WHAT is it with us and the blame game? This year, Australia is taking the rap for sending us flu, a disease that has been endemic in humans for at least 10,000 years, and that grips much of the globe every flu season (the clue’s in the name)…
This comment piece first appeared in The Guardian on 9 January 2018. To continue reading, click here.
A new law takes force in France on 1 January to up the number of mandatory childhood vaccines to 11 from three. It has provoked a polemic, but the law is sound. If there is a problem here, it is the neglect by officials of the main drivers of vaccine hesitancy…
This article first appeared in New Scientist on 12 December 2017. To continue reading, click here (paywall).
NEARLY 100 years ago, in 1918, the world experienced the greatest tidal wave of death since the Black Death, possibly in the whole of human history. We call that tidal wave the Spanish flu, and many things changed in the wake of it. One of the most profound revolutions took place in the domain of public health….
This article first appeared in Zócalo Public Square on 26 September 2017 and was reproduced the next day in the Smithsonian magazine. To continue reading, click here.