Category Archives: Viruses

Managing Feelings

Posted on June 1, 2022 by mikethemadbiologist

And, no, this isn’t a post about Yascha Mounk! This is a very good point (boldface mine): Panic is never a good public health strategy, but in attempting to preemptively tamp down public fear, I think experts are failing to … Continue reading →

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Will We Learn Anything from COVID Testing: The Monkeypox Edition

Posted on May 30, 2022 by mikethemadbiologist

Will we prepare now, so we don’t panic later? Hopefully, not (boldface mine): Testing for monkeypox in the United States remains cumbersome. Currently, if a person is suspected to have monkeypox, their physician must contact a state or local public … Continue reading →

Posted in Public Health, Viruses | 1 Comment

There Are Important Policy Issues Regarding the Lab Leak Hypothesis

Posted on May 31, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

But they’re not being discussed. Over the last couple of weeks, the ‘lab leak hypothesis’, which claims that COVID-19 escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (or some other Chinese facility) and didn’t jump from an animal host to people, … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Viruses | 1 Comment

A Liberal Is a Conservative Who Has Been Sneezed on

Posted on March 9, 2020 by mikethemadbiologist

For those who don’t get the reference (you whippersnappers with your avocado toast!), it refers to the old saw “a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged.” Anyway, it appears some conservatives are loving themselves some ‘socialism‘ (boldface mine): … Continue reading →

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COVID-19 Questions That Need to Be Asked

Posted on March 8, 2020 by mikethemadbiologist

And by asked, Congress is going to have to step in and possibly use its subpoena power. Likewise, journalists, and not the political horse race shitheads, but the professional science reporters, will have to ask hard questions. While the CDC … Continue reading →

Posted in Public Health, Viruses | 4 Comments

Viruses Don’t Do Politics

Posted on February 28, 2020 by mikethemadbiologist

In China, the doctor who first identified COVID-19, and was then accused by local police of spreading false information (and ultimately died from COVID-19), is now being hailed, certainly unofficially, as a hero. One has to wonder if he, or … Continue reading →

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There’s More to Healthcare than Bending Cost Curves Like Beckham

Posted on February 25, 2020 by mikethemadbiologist

One of my concerns, among several, about the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., as well as our ability to mitigate the damage from an outbreak, is our crappy healthcare system. There are too many assholes who view … Continue reading →

Posted in Healthcare, Public Health, Viruses | 2 Comments

No One Could Have Predicted Closing a Needle Exchange Would Cause a Hepatitis C Outbreak

Posted on October 28, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

Actually, everyone would have predicted this (boldface mine): A new case of hepatitis C was reported nearly every eight hours in Kanawha County [West Virginia] last year. The number of men and women diagnosed in 2018 with the infectious disease … Continue reading →

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A Question About Colds (Freep This Poll)

Posted on March 4, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

While we’ve had a very bad influenza season, from my admittedly limited view, it seems, in D.C. anyway, we’ve had a very good year for cold viruses (for us humans). Usually, by this time of year, I’ve had a couple … Continue reading →

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Is The Plural Of Bacteriophage, A “Vile”?

Posted on December 11, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

There’s an interesting Vice article about bacteriophage (viruses that infect bacteria) and their potential usefulness in killing bacteria. But this photo caption cracked me up: It’s vial, not “vile.” Though that would be a great name for the plural of … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Viruses | 1 Comment