In this episode of Contagious Thinking Elihu and Connor talk with Steve Polyak from the University of Washington in Seattle USA about how some drugs stop viruses from infecting us. In particular we chat about his work on a drug Arbidol that can block many viruses and is actually an over-the-counter medicine in Russia and… Continue reading →
As the Northern hemisphere approaches winter and the vaccines are in the process of being given before the annual flu season begins in earnest, the country starts to focus on these mysterious viruses that continue to infect us year on year. But if you look closely at influenza viruses, you’ll realise that there’s an awful lot we… Continue reading →
The 28th of September marked the 10th World Rabies Day, and this year’s theme was “Rabies; Educate. Vaccinate. Eliminate.” While most global efforts aimed at rabies control focus on spread by dogs and other carnivores, the Streicker lab working in the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, and the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and… Continue reading →
Is the ebolavirus mutating to become more transmissible in humans? Why was Zika virus able to move across the world so rapidly? Why are some viruses able to spread via aerosols floating in the air? While these may all appear to be very distinct questions, there is one major factor that connects them: the concept… Continue reading →
Before we had Zika virus on our minds there was Ebola. 2015 saw the most devastating human epidemic of ebolavirus ever recorded. This outbreak began in December 2013 in the forests of Guinea and spread rapidly into neighbouring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone, reaching Nigeria, the USA and even Glasgow, Scotland in the UK.… Continue reading →
