Newsletter 1745 (Jan 11, 2021)

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Welcome to our Club!

I was delighted to hear that Gregory and Karagh are planning to join us for our first Breakfast Meeting this coming Thursday 14th. Jan at 7.00am for a 7.15 am start as they are both very keen to listen to our guest speaker, Professor Geoff Higgins presenting Coronavirus and the prospects for an effective vaccine. I hope that you have approached friends who may find this presentation of interest and Dr Phil who arranged it is going to introduce Geoff.

Last Thursday a small group of regulars met for coffee at the White Picket Fence, whilst Katrina was busy showing Stef around the McLaren Vale on her first visit.

This very hot weather will assist our bottle & can fundraising which has already reached $447.20 against a budget of $700 for the year ending 30th. June 2021. Catherine House are very big contributors to this project. Please let me know if you need a replacement bag as I have plenty.

Last Thursday, Kym Pedler and myself visited Catherine House and re-staked the eucalyptus tree in the front garden which is growing rapidly and looks great.

Please remember to let me know by this coming Tuesday if you are planning to attend this coming Thursday to allow me to inform the Mercure/Grosvenor Hotel and thank you to those people who have already done so.

See you on Thursday morning.

Rob

Dr Higgins trained in Infectious Diseases at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre and in Microbiology and Virology at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science Adelaide (now SA Pathology). He completed a PhD in Virology at the University of Adelaide. After a 2 year post doc in Cambridge UK, he returned to the IMVS in 1993 as a Medical Consultant in the Division of Virology where he has worked as a Clinical Virology, Head of Virology and then Clinical Director of the Microbiology and Infectious Directorate of SA Pathology. He has recently stepped down from the Director position but remains working part time as a Clinical Virologist. Dr Higgins has had a long term interest in developing and implementing molecular diagnostic techniques for routine pathology testing in hospital and general practices. The establishment of high volume routine molecular testing at SA Pathology was one of the reasons SA responded rapidly to the COVID 19 outbreak.

Dr Higgins will discuss the origins of COVID 19, its diagnosis, epidemiology and the emerging vaccines for its prevention.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-19 (COVID 19) is a coronavirus that emerged in China in late 2019 and has subsequently spread worldwide causing a pandemic with significant morbidity, mortality and economic damage. The origin of the virus remain in dispute. There are at least 4 coronaviruses that circulate between humans and cause generally mild winter respiratory illnesses. COVID 19, the closely related SARS viruses that emerged in 2003 and the more distant MERS coronavirus (2012) that cause more severe disease appear to be of recent animal origin. One of the keys to initial Public Health response to the epidemic has been the availability of sensitivity and specific diagnostics tests. Of these molecular testing with results available in as little as 15 minutes, are the diagnostic test of choice. Timely nucleic acid sequencing assays have under pinned the epidemiological studies. Molecular techniques have also allowed the rapid development of vaccines and the variety of vaccines and their early efficacy results will be discussed.

14 January 2021 -7.15am

Mercure Grosvenor Hotel

28 January 2021 -7.15am

Mercure Grosvenor Hotel

Meeting Number 1695

Rebecca Davies (Guest Speaker)

Leave of Absence

Bread run - 4 people - 6 hours

Bunnings BBQ - 12 people (including 1 friend) - 38 hours

Christmas tree sales - 27 people (including 2 Rotaractors & 2 friends) - 86.5 hours

The Importance of Walking

My grandpa started walking five miles a day when he was 60.
Now he's 97 years old and we have no idea where he is.

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I'm doing...

I joined a health club last year, spent about 250 bucks.
Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there!

If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

I know I got a lot of exercise in the last few years, just getting over the hill.

We all get heavier as we get older, because there's a lot more information in our heads.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.