Blog
Working with Polio Eradication
December 6th, 2011[slideshow] Many travellers who have visited our clinics will have received polio vaccination. One of our patients has kindly written this piece for our newsletter. Jenny Horton is an Australian Rotarian who has volunteered with the program for over 10 years in Ethiopia, Botswana, Nigeria, Pakistan and now India. Jenny writes … […]
Hookworms may help patients with coeliac disease
October 23rd, 2011Hookworms may provide a key to treating coeliac disease, according to research undertaken in Australia Persons with Coeliac disease cannot tolerate the wheat protein, gluten, in their diet. This is a challenge as they cannot eat regular bread, pasta, and even some medications. The study found that infection with a common species of hookworm (necator […]
Diabetes and insulin pumps during flight
August 16th, 2011Patients with type 1 diabetes should ensure that their seatbacks are upright, their seatbelts fastened and their insulin pumps disconnected before takeoff, researchers say. They should also ensure their pump contains only 1.5mL of insulin before flying, remove any air bubbles before reconnecting the pump at cruising altitude, and disconnect again during emergencies. The advice […]
Please vote online to help a school in Nepal
July 3rd, 2011Dear Readers, could you spare a minute to vote online to help one of my patients win a $5000 grant to build classrooms in a remote Nepalese village school ( I am also one of the directors of the Overseas Aid fund for the Nepal Australia Friendship Association so can vouch for the organisation NAFA) […]
An 11 year old girl died in the USA from Japanese Encephalitis (JE) after travelling to the Philippines for 3 weeks.
March 10th, 2011On July 18, 2010, a previously healthy little girl aged 11 years was hospitalized in Nevada, USA after 2 days of fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, and neck pain. During 21st June to 12th July, she had visited the Philippines with four relatives and had received numerous mosquito bites. (JE is contracted from a mosquito bite) […]
QLD Health expands Free Whooping cough program
February 21st, 2011We have just been advised by QLD Health that they have expanded the free whooping cough (pertussis) vaccination program to include all adults in the household of a baby under 6 months of age. This is great news for the newborns of QLD. Babies cannot be vaccinated against pertussis until age 2 months. Babies who […]
Extra benefit of Cervical Cancer vaccination
February 14th, 2011Rates of Genital warts have dropped in both young women and and heterosexual men following widespread vaccination of girls and women aged 12-26 years with the cervical cancer vaccine. Since 2007 the vaccine against Human papilloma virus has been provided free to young women in this country. About 80% of eligible adolescent girls have received […]
Dangers of staying home at ones desk
February 3rd, 2011I would guess most of my readers love to travel. Now we have a medical excuse? Recently someone sent me this blog post outlining the dangers of sitting at ones desk all day!
Melatonin?
January 7th, 2011I have recently been asked about Melatonin for jetlag A product circadan = 2 mg slow release melatonin was approved last year in australia by The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for use in persons over 55 years of age http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/tga-approves-melatonin-for-adult-insomnia However the cochraine review http://www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab001520.html …did not encourage the use of 2mg slow release melatonin […]
New Meningococcal Vaccine is coming soon
October 15th, 2010I have some great news that probably wont make it to the headlines of the local papers! I have just been to a meeting in Melbourne. A new vaccine for meningitis should be available in Australia in early November. This type of vaccine has been available in the USA for some years but is only […]
