Australia is seeing a sharp rise in diphtheria cases in 2026, mainly in the NT, with a recent death highlighting how serious it is.
Diphtheria can cause severe respiratory illness from a bacterial toxin. Childhood vaccination works well, but immunity fades. Many young adults are under-protected.
Ebola's R0 in African outbreaks is around 2, driven by funeral practices and care of the sick without PPE. In a developed-country setting, the R0 falls well below 1. This is one of the reasons why the risk of an Ebola outbreak in developed countries is low.
I just published America Left the WHO. Here’s What That Actually Means medium.com/p/america-le...
My latest article: How flu overtook COVID as Australia’s deadliest respiratory virus
theconversation.com/how-flu-over...
Loneliness sits awkwardly in public health.
It’s not infectious.
It’s not a classic lifestyle risk.
But it still affects mortality.
The “as deadly as smoking” claim isn’t quite right, but the real story matters.
My latest article in Medium:
medium.com/@adrian.este...
My latest article in The Conversation. Why diphtheria, whooping cough and measles have come back in Australia theconversation.com/why-diphther...
Ebola in the DRC. Hantavirus on a cruise ship.
Almost nobody mentions: about 8% of your DNA came from viruses. One captured viral gene is why mammals can grow a placenta.
New piece: medium.com/@adrian.este...
Latest data from the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, show that Only 13% of people aged 75 and over are up to date with their booster. We need our governments, GPs and pharmacists working to improve this dire situation.
The elderly are the group that tend to end up in hospital with COVID, yet few protect themselves. Read my latest Medium article:
medium.com/@adrian.este...
I just published The world has moved on from COVID. The risk hasn’t. medium.com/p/the-world-...
Adrian Esterman
An epidemiologist, aged 77, explains what the data still shows - and the simple steps that can still save lives
