Not long until the #flu #vaccine becomes available.
Whatever the season holds, it's a good idea to be vaccinated before it.
#Influenza kills, causes hospitalisation & can affect your heart & brain. Inflammation from infections is not your friend in the long term.
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
mastodon
4.6.0-nightly.2026-03-16
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian.
#MasksMatter
Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky
🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
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Joined October 28, 2022
Virology Down Under:
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Posts
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Mar 09, 2026
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Mar 06, 2026
COVID-19 "..vaccines still provide excellent protection from severe illness and death even when the virus is not controlled by humoral immunity, likely due to cellular immunity that limits virus, independently of antibody neutralization"
https://academic.oup.com/jimmunol/article/214/6/1095/8105708
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Mar 06, 2026
Check out the new stories on virologydownunder.com if you're looking for something different to distract yourself from wars, drones, missiles, domes, or nuclear proliferation.
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Mar 05, 2026
Travel advisory for 32 countries amid polio outbreak https://nedhamsonsecondlineviewofthenews.com/2026/03/05/travel-advisory-for-32-countries-amid-polio-outbreak/
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 28, 2026
Influenza epidemic peak height is not the best measure of season size. How severe the season is is a separate issue again.
https://virologydownunder.com/another-way-to-look-at-flu-season-size/
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 25, 2026
I'm old enough to remember when professional diplomats & negotiators could quickly sift through the crap & see it for what it was.
But Russia now has imbeciles & children on the other side of the table, in a world that believes any & all Russian lies.
The time of amateurs & liars is ascendent.
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 24, 2026
Most flu deaths this century were recorded in 2025, ABS finds.
-bigger season means more deaths unless flu vaccination levels are much higher. And we had our biggest season in record.
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 24, 2026
Rare, dangerous side effects of some COVID-19 vaccines explained
https://www.science.org/content/article/rare-dangerous-side-effects-some-covid-19-vaccines-explained
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 23, 2026
Post-COVID-19 condition in individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 in autumn 2023 in the Netherlands: a prospective cohort study with pre- and post-infection data.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(25)00264-9/fulltext
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 23, 2026
Why has the building industry been allowed to get away with delaying automation and retaining its mysogynist 'blokey bloke' culture?
Reminds me that any backwater appendix simply gathers crap and toxicity.
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 22, 2026
🎓 The household has a second university student.
Time passes too fast.
Good luck to all the newbies beginning an acadmic journey.
May you find your team, learn, challenge norms, base your lives on on evidence, & eventually make the world into something better than you found it.
Education is all 🎓
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 21, 2026
US continually release new policies "that destabilise vaccine confidence globally … so in some respects, we haven’t hit the bottom of what’s coming,” says Dr Jessica Kaufman."
“My hope is that local Australian efforts [to tackle hesitancy] are significant enough”
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 21, 2026
Ease of access but also ongoing education and communication needed IMO.
“The Australian government is engaging immunisation experts about reinforcing the message to parents and [improving] access and affordability to increase vaccination rates,”
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 20, 2026
How vaccines work for pregnancy and newborns.
-reakky nice and clear and simple. Made by the Australia Department of Health and the National Immunisation Program.
https://youtu.be/MZTisQQp0R4?si=NB_t8Zrnwusxsegu
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 20, 2026
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 19, 2026
The 2024 Australian Whooping cough epidemic was huge. But that's been declining in 2025 and 2026 https://virologydownunder.com/in-australia-whooping-cough-was-huge-in-2024-but-declined-in-2025/
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 19, 2026
RE: @mackayim2022@mastodon.social
While you visit and read this thoroughly educational piece, don't forget to subscribe to the blog so you don't miss any future gems like this!😎
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 19, 2026
Whooping cough in 2024 was huge in Australia, but is declining in 2025 and 2026
The risks of declining childhood vaccination include a resurgence of dangerous infectious diseases driven by airborne pathogens such as Bordetella pertussis, the bacterium that causes whooping cough (also called pertussis). A recent local news article highlights this and touches on the infection pause as a reason for a 2024 epidemic. But I'm no fan of language like "catastrophic", and I'm…
https://virologydownunder.com/in-australia-whooping-cough-was-huge-in-2024-but-declined-in-2025/
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 15, 2026
@Infoseepage@mastodon.social There is a specific vaccine for mpox though
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 14, 2026
#Mpox: recombinant virus with genomic elements of clades Ib and IIb - Global
https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2026-DON595
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Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. Australian. # MasksMatter Also @mackayim.bsky.social on Bluesky 🦠🤧🧬📑🥼🦟🧀
mastodon.social
@mackayim2022@mastodon.social
·
Feb 14, 2026
Right, so during just the past week, dementia risk-reduction measures reportedly include:
🔵 2-3 coffees
🔵 Reading and writing
🔵 Vaccination
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