News from Aotearoa/New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

tweet in previous post says "Article published by the Otago Daily Times - includes a video interview with two people from Tapanui, West Otago, who caught Tapanui 'Flu 40-odd years ago"

Early indications point to higher visibility for 12 May this year

In the 30+ years I've been reading the Otago Daily Times I don't ever recall seeing coverage of ME anywhere near this level before. There's the article on page 2 (same as the one linked in the tweet, currently prominently featured on the online landing page, with video) plus ME is on the frontcover of the weekend supplement with a major 3-page feature article (paywalled, but found in archive). Pretty good overall even if, perhaps inevitably, it contains a few small argh moments. The writer has done some good reporting in the past but never this extensive that I can remember

And this in The Star (Dunedin), an advertising feature with a very over-hyped headline: "Breakthrough with ME genetic factor" - yeah right (pp14-15)

And this in The NZ Herald

 

Along with others (eg Prof Campbell Murdoch) both were well admired lecturers of mine in the early 90s. I don't recall from Charlotte Paul's epidemiology lectures specific illustrations of ME/CFS, but she probably did include it. What did absolutely stick with me was the clinical description of the profound effect on people's lives, the absence of treatments and the early thinking behind the biology — eg Les Simpson's red cell deformability studies. Simultaneously, BPS was on the rise, so as I've commented before, I suspect mine was the last class to be taught that ME/CFS was biological, before "abnormal illness beliefs" took hold for the next 30 years. Little did I guess this would be in my and my family's future…

 

Kia ora everyone. I've been quiet on S4ME due to lack of cognitive spoons, so this is my first post here (and I hope I’m doing it right!)

Yesterday was the 40th Anniversary of a landmark article in the New Zealand Listener, that contains a goldmine of historical information about the Tapanui ‘Flu epidemic that is not well known. So, I seized the day (or, more accurately, the evening) to launch some new Kiwiana onto the internet:

1. Informational website – Tapanui ‘Flu Blog (It's a work in progress, to be expanded over time)

2. Digital reproduction of “M.E. Mystery Epidemic” by Jacqueline Steincamp (NZ Listener, 19 May 1984)

3. My first blog, which discusses Jacqueline Steincamp’s article, it's historical significance, and the impact it had at the time.

 

@Tapanui 'Flu I love this! You have such an endearing style & tone in your writing that draws me as the reader into your story like we are old friends.

 

Thank you @Tapanui 'Flu for putting in the work to share this important information, it was something I knew nothing about. I just skim read the two links but will return to read this more thoroughly.

 

Thank you for your lovely feedback @Deanne NZ - that means a lot! I had been struggling with drafting the blog for days, and ended up completely re-writing it on the day it was posted - so I was quite nervous about it. Your comment will help me to find the confidence to do more (when my brain recovers sufficiently from the monumental PESE I just inflicted upon myself!)

 

Thank you @Hutan - I didn't know that other thread was there. (I still need to learn to navigate around in here)

 

Kia ora @Tapanui 'Flu

Some seriously interesting reading there, both in the blog post and the 40-year-old article

40 looong years and the first thing that comes to mind is... plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Except that today I would only suspect the writer and proofreader of this hilarious typo - 40 years ago it could have been the typesetter - anyone for some "calcium for witches"

 

Thanks @Ravn. Yep, there's been a fair bit of deja vu over the last 40 years. A lot of the new stuff is still the same old stuff, and not a lot seems to change.

The "calcium for witches" also had me in stitches . But even funnier is how I could not, for the life of me, see that witches should read twitches! I've amended the digital version of the article to read "[t]witches" in case other ME-brains struggle to make the switch from witch to twitch

 

The following Ministry of Health commissioned report was published on 16th May 2024.
Life since the pandemic: How the COVID-19 pandemic experience has shaped public attitudes and beliefs on public health, infectious disease and vaccination | Ministry of Health NZ
I haven't read this and am not sure if this has anything relevant for the ME/CFS community or anything relevant to raise concerns about. But if someone has time to review and advise that would be helpful.

 

Does not seem to contain the words: fatigue, pain, malaise.

 

The ANZMES annual research grant application period is now open until 31 July 2024.
See dedicated thread for details

 

After that serious piece of work Tapanui 'Flu is having some fun with this Twitter campaign aimed at John Oliver and Jon Stewart

 

Angela Maxwell-McRae is a dentist from Arrowtown who was interviewed about her LC experience on TVNZ breakfast this morning (with Jenny-May Clarkson).

https://fb.watch/syvuXXUgE9/