Monday, January 18, 2010

Weekly Roundup Of FluBlogia

 

 

# 4266

 

 

 

Once again I’m back with a recap of some of the stories from in and around Flublogia from the past week (or so).

 

This is a subjective list of things that I found of interest, and by no means mentions every worthy blog post out there.  It is more of a sampling.

 

My apologies for the good stories I may miss.  So, with that said, in no particularly order . . .

 

The big story, of course, is the horrendous impact of the earthquake in Haiti, which occurred on Tuesday.  The death toll is still unknown (and will likely never be accurately tallied), but will no doubt run in the tens of thousands.

 

So our first stop is the American Red Cross Disaster Newsroom, which carries updates on the relief effort going on in Haiti.  While you are there, you might consider making a donation.

 

image

 

You’ll also find updates, and ways you can donate to the relief efforts, as Save The Children  and CARE.org among others.

 

`Jimmy Jazz’, on the In Case of Emergency:Break Glass blog, has links to a number of important blogs and features on the earthquake.

 

Although technically not part of this week’s roundup, one of Jimmy’s articles from last year is especially timely, entitled Dead Bodies Do Not Cause Disease.   Revere at Effect Measure had a similar piece last year, as well.

 

Break Glass, by the way, has just celebrated its third BlogiversaryCongratulations, Jimmy.   Blogs frequently come and go, but it is a real accomplishment to stay `on-the-air’ for 3 years running.

 

The indefatigable Crof at Crofsblog continues to produce the most comprehensive daily roundup of flu news on the net, and has added a number of reports on the Haitian disaster as well.

 

Next up, the return of Scott McPherson, who blogs exceedingly well, just not as often as his fans would like.   In Swine flu pandemic over? Far from over  Scott ponders what happens when this pandemic virus smolders in places l like rural China and India over the coming months.

 

Revere (well, one of them) continues their discussion on randomized trials verses observational studies at Effect Measure with:

 

Randomized trial versus observational study challenge, VI: randomization, first part

 [Previous installments: here, here, here, here, here]

One of the Reveres was also interviewed on Radio Sandy Springs by Sharon Sanders of FluTrackers last Monday.   It’s a terrific hour, even though there was audio trouble for the final couple of minutes.

01/11/10 Guest Revere of Effect Measure

Sharon Sander interviews one of the Reveres of the Effect Measure Blog

 

The week before, Sharon interviewed Professor Vincent Racaniello of the Virology Blog.  The link for that interview is:

 

01/04/10 Guest Vincent Racaniello, PhD

Sharon Sander interviews Vincent Racaniello, PhD


A couple of other flu related offerings from Effect Measure this week include:

 

Another swine flu virus

WHO prepares to don a hair shirt

 

Okay, it’s not flu related . . . but if you missed Potato salad, food poisoning and contortionists, you missed an incredible video of a little known variety act from the 1940s and a lesson in food poisoning.

 

 

If this sister act intrigues you, I wrote a bit more about them last March in my `other blog’  Master Of My Public Domain.

 

Hey, even flu bloggers can have eclectic interests.

 

 

CIDRAP News provides excellent coverage and analysis of H1N1 and other disease news, and while I can heartily recommend all of their reporting, a couple of features stood out for me this week.

 

Health officials, experts reject 'false pandemic' charges

WHO, vaccine group deny pandemic scare charges

 

Ida at the Bird Flu Information Cornera joint effort between Kobe University in Japan and the Institute of Tropical Disease, Airlangga University, Indonesia – has been busy translating articles from the Indonesian Press on outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry, and some suspected (and confirmed) human infections.

 

As always, I am heavily reliant on the newshounds on the flu forums (I frequent Flu Wiki and FluTrackers) which continue to provide the best stream of raw news and information on emerging infectious diseases from around the world.

 

Given the events in California (a 6.5 earthquake off the coast) and in Haiti, several of my blogs have been about earthquake preparedness  . . . including one (see Shaken And (Hopefully) Stirred) that ran 3 days before the Haiti quake. 

Others include:

It Doesn’t Have To Be An Earthquake . . .
Inside My Bug Out Bag

 

 

And here at AFD you’ll find more than 25 entries since my last roundup.  Some you may be interested in checking out include:

 

The Migratory Bird Connection
H3N2 Swine Flu
CDC Updates Estimates Of Infections, Hospitalizations, and Deaths From H1N1
Swine Flu Sequelae

WHO To Review Their Pandemic Response