Suggestions the Ebola virus could “mutate” into a form that is transmissible by the respiratory route are speculative, and the likelihood of it happening are low. Nonetheless, the idea appears to have…
Bushfire smoke can damage the lungs in a similar way to smoking-related emphysema, according to a study from the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. Published in international science journal PLOS…
The current “airpocolypse” emergency in Shanghai - which has seen schoolchildren ordered indoors to protect them from the polluted air, flights grounded and companies ordered to cut production - comes…
The discovery that dromedary camels may be a key source of the virus behind Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) looks to unravel one of the biggest mysteries surrounding outbreaks of the deadly…
Facts about Flu - Perhaps the misery you feel when ill in winter isn’t the fault of the much-maligned influenza virus after all. RSV, hMPV, CoV… these may all sound like random acronyms, but they are influenza’s…
This winter, most of us will catch a cold. Our kids will probably catch at least two or three. We all know you are supposed to feed a cold and starve a fever. But does it really make any difference if…
The floods have come and gone in Queensland and in their wake are heartbreak, devastation and months, if not years, of clean-up and rebuilding. Those affected now face a hidden risk to their health from…
A massive expansion of Newcastle’s coal export terminal has been proposed by Port Waratah Coal Services. Approval is likely soon, but the expansion’s effect on human health has been ignored in the project’s…
The past five years have seen record rainfall and flooding in many towns and cities across eastern Australia. The floods themselves are dangerous, but so are the health hazards associated with the indoor…
There’s good news about asthma in the report card “Asthma in Australia 2011” published last week by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). But there are also some sobering facts about heath-care…