Follow the Science

Latest Episodes:

39. Are Vaccines Helping or Hurting? w/ Derek Lowe Sep 17, 2021

Show notes

The prevalence of Covid-19 even in highly vaccinated countries such as Israel has led to a scary rumor that vaccines are actually making the disease worse. That has happened before with other vaccines - sometimes antibodies can actually turn traitor and help the virus through something called antibody dependent enhancement.

Medicinal chemist Derek Lowe has been getting lots of questions about this from concerned readers of his Science Magazine pharmaceutical blog In The Pipeline. In this episode he explains how antibody dependent enhancement works, where it’s happened before, and why it’s almost certainly not happening with our Covid-19 vaccines.

“Follow the Science" is produced, written, and hosted by Faye Flam, with funding by the Society for Professional Journalists. Today’s episode was edited by Seth Gliksman with music by Kyle Imperatore. If you’d like to hear more "Follow the Science," please like, follow, and subscribe!

38. The Science of Mask Mandates for Kids w/ Elissa Schechter-Perkins & Vinay Prasad Sep 10, 2021

Show notes

Should mask mandates for kids go all the way down to age 2? Should kids have to keep masks on at recess? Should kids wear cloth masks despite little evidence of protection? Is universal masking in schools the new normal?

Emotions are running high and relevant scientific studies are in short supply.

I’ll be talking with two doctors, Dr. Elissa Schechter-Perkins and Dr. Vinay Prasad (Plenary Session), to explore what science can tell us, not just about whether kids should wear masks to school but which kids, under which circumstances, and for how long?

37. Beyond Covid-19 – Other Looming Threats w/ Rodney Rohde Sep 03, 2021

Show notes

If we weren’t all obsessed with the pandemic, there would be scare stories about a life-threatening fungus that’s infecting people in Texas and Washington DC. It can’t be cured with drugs that would normally be used for fungal infections. Even as we battle a virus, fungi and bacteria are evolving resistance to known drugs, and as clinical laboratory science professor Rodney Rohde says, Covid-19 may be making this other threat worse.

36. Breakthrough Cases, Boosters, and Confusion w/ Bill Hanage Aug 27, 2021

Show notes

There’s still a strong consensus that getting vaccinated is better than not – but a surprising lack of information on which vaccines work best, how long protection lasts, and why cases are skyrocketing in some places with high vaccination rates, including Israel, where more than 60% of the population is fully vaccinated with the Pfizer shot. Here in the United States, tens of thousands are being hospitalized in a fourth wave, and many are vaccinated.

Harvard Epidemiologist Bill Hanage will talk to me about breakthrough cases, what’s driving this unexpected fourth wave, and what’s likely to happen next.

35. Why is the Pandemic So Hard to Predict? w/ Sam Scarpino Aug 20, 2021

Show notes

We take precautions, get vaccinated, and yet cases surge again and again. And then the waves decline unexpectedly, defying predictions. There’s no good explanation for why cases are going up in some places and not others. And there’s not nearly enough information on which venues or activities are the most dangerous. By contrast, weather forecasters look downright clairvoyant.

Today’s guest, Sam Scarpino, is an expert on complex systems. He’s just started a new position as managing director of the pandemic surveillance program with the Rockefeller Institute. We talk about what’s predictable, what isn’t, and what he and his colleagues hope to learn to help give people more concrete forecasts and more information about our risks.

“Follow the Science" is produced, written, and hosted by Faye Flam , with funding by the Society for Professional Journalists. Today’s episode was edited by Seth Gliksman with music by Kyle Imperatore. If you’d like to hear more "Follow the Science," please like, follow, and subscribe!

34. Official and Unofficial Misinformation on Vaccines w/ Art Krieg Aug 13, 2021

Show notes

Vaccines aren’t perfect. Physician Art Krieg knows that all too well since his fully vaccinated 90-year-old father recently died from Covid-19. But he makes a good case that getting vaccinated still helps protect the community by lowering your odds of getting infected and vastly lowering your odds of being hospitalized. Dr. Krieg also tackles the question of whether people who have had Covid-19 should get the shots, whether some people are medically exempt, and how the delta variant changes the equation.

“Follow the Science" is produced, written, and hosted by Faye Flam, with funding by the Society for Professional Journalists. Today’s episode was edited by Seth Gliksman with music by Kyle Imperatore. If you’d like to hear more "Follow the Science," please like, follow, and subscribe!

33. Using Biology to Recalculate the Pandemic's Future w/ Vineet Menachery Aug 06, 2021

Show notes

What can the scientific study of the delta variant tell us about the pandemic’s future? Does it make sense go back to taking precautions to deal with a temporary setback, or is it time we all learn how to live with some risk? Today I talk with immunologist and microbiologist Vineet Menachery from the University of Texas Medical Branch. He explains how the virus gets into cells, and why the delta variant does it better than earlier forms of the virus. He explains why a future variant that evades vaccine-induced antibodies probably wouldn’t be as transmissible – it’s going to be hard for the virus to improve in both ways simultaneously. He also explains why he plans to get his young children vaccinated when it’s approved for them.

32. The Long Memory of Vaccines: Explained w/ Monica Gandhi Jul 23, 2021

Show notes

Jubilation at the introduction of Covid-19 vaccines is giving way to debates about boosters and fears of breakthrough infections. And people are understandably confused about how vaccines work. How could they possibly help us fight a virus years or even decades in the future? Infectious disease expert Monica Gandhi of the University of California, San Francisco explains how this seemingly magical process works – with special B and T cells that hide away in your lymph nodes and bone marrow, ready to respond when needed. Understanding how the immune system works can bring some understanding to today’s outrage-filled debates about Covid-19 vaccines – and it’s fascinating to boot.

31. Ivermectin: The Chemistry of Hope and Hype w/ Derek Lowe Jul 16, 2021

Show notes

There are philosophical reasons that political conservatives are more likely to cheer for experimental Covid-19 drugs - hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin – and reasons that political liberals are more likely to cheer for vaccines. But you can’t always get what you want. In this episode, medicinal chemist Derek Lowe, author of the In the Pipeline blog, gets into the molecular workings of things to explain why it’s easier to fight a viruses with vaccines than with drugs. He explains why it’s worth continuing to search for better drugs for Covid-19, and to test the much-publicized anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin. But there are scientific reasons that it’s a big long shot, and any miracle cure for Covid-19 is highly unlikely.

30. Fear and Fatigue Shape Our Response to Delta w/ Müge Çevik & Shira Doron Jul 09, 2021

Show notes

Just when Americans were getting back to normal life, a new variant is leading some public health officials to call for a return to distancing, masks and fear. How will the new, more transmissible variant change the future now that around half the population is vaccinated? Some clues come from the UK, where my first guest, Müge Çevik, works as an infectious disease doctor. She said the vaccines are still working despite the fact that Delta has been dominant in the UK for a while. Hospitals this time around aren’t becoming overwhelmed even as cases climb.

My second guest, Shira Doron, is an epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center. She says that while Delta is easier to transmit, she sees no reason for panic or a return to universal masking in regions of the US where the vaccination rate is high.

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