When will the 2009 swine-origin influenza virus become a seasonal strain? While prediction is very hard, especially of the future (at least according to Yogi Berra), examining past pandemics can be informative. The 1968 pandemic began with the emergence of a novel H3N2 influenza virus in Hong Kong in July ...

Today I lectured on viral vaccines in the Immunology course at the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University. I used poliovirus and influenza virus vaccines to illustrate general principles of immunization. My thanks to the engaged students who asked excellent questions! Here is a video of my lecture. Thanks to ...

The New York Times has published an editorial entitled "The Swine Flu, as of Now" which presents their views of the current influenza pandemic. The piece covers the number of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths; the distribution of vaccines, and lists those most at risk for severe disease. It begins with ...

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier On episode 2 of the podcast "This Week in Parasitism", Vincent and Dick classify parasites according to whether or not they are transmitted by a vector, then consider the implications of long-lived parasites. [powerpress url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/twip/TWiP002.mp3"] Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to ...

So far in my experiments to understand inhibition of rhinovirus replication by ZnCl2 I've found that at a concentration of 0.1 mM, viral plaque formation is inhibited but not sufficiently to be able to select resistant mutants. Attempts to use higher concentrations of the metal have consistently failed. When I ...