This Week in Virology

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TWiV 1038: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin Aug 26, 2023

Show notes

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses modeling poliovirus transmission and responses in New York State, FDA approves first vaccine for pregnant individuals to prevent RSV in infants, prevention and control of seasonal influenza with vaccines: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Nirmatrelvir resistance – de novo E166V/L50V mutations in an immunocompromised patient treated with prolonged nirmatrelvir/ritonavir monotherapy leading to clinical and virological treatment failure, incidence of new-onset hypertension post–COVID-19: comparison with influenza, and post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 at 2 years.

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Links for this episode

Modeling poliovirus transmission and responses in New York State (JID)
FDA approves first vaccine for pregnant individuals to prevent RSV in infants (FDA)
Prevention and control of seasonal influenza with vaccines (CDC)
De novo E166V/L50V mutations in an immunocompromised patient treated with nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (CID)
Incidence of new-onset hypertension post–COVID-19 (Hypertension)
Postacute sequelae of COVID-19 at 2 years (Nature Medicine)
Contribute to our Floating Doctors fundraiser at PWB
Letters read on TWiV 1038
Dr. Griffin's COVID treatment summary (pdf)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 1037: Antibodies, the good (CoV), the bad (Ad), the beautiful Aug 20, 2023

Show notes

TWiV reviews evidence that symptomatic adenovirus infection leads to thrombocytopenia, thrombosis, and production of anti-platelet factor 4 antibodies similar to the rare disorder seen after immunization with adenoviral vectored COVID-19 vaccines, and a monoclonal antibody isolated from a SARS survivor, following vaccination with a SARS-CoV-2 spike mRNA vaccine, that neutralizes a broad collection of ACE2-binding sarbecoviruses.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

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Links for this episode

MicrobeTV Discord Server
MicrobeTV store at Cafepress
Research assistant position in Rosenfeld Lab CBER/FDA (pdf)
VITT-like disorder after adenovirus infection (NEJM)
The clot thickens (TWiV 842)
Lessons from VITT (Nat Rev Immunol)
Pan-sarbecovirus neutralizing mAb (Sci Adv)
Letters read on TWiV 1037
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Dickson – Rho Ophiuchi nebula showing massive star formation. James Webb Space Telescope Brianne – Question Mark in Space? Kathy – Quammen interview with Walter Isaacson Rich – Chrome Music Lab Vincent – Matters Microbial

Listener Picks

Tom – The (second) deadliest virus Charles – We Will All Go Together When We Go and So Long Mom (A Song for World War III) Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 1036: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin Aug 19, 2023

Show notes

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses Florida local transmission of dengue cases reported in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, infants admitted to US intensive care units for RSV infection during the 2022 seasonal peak, long-term risk of death and readmission after hospital admission with COVID-19 among older adults, safety profile and clinical and virological outcomes of Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir treatment in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and COVID-19, Fluvoxamine vs placebo for outpatients with symptomatic COVID-19, the effect of corticosteroids, antibiotics, and anticoagulants on the development of post-COVID-19 syndrome in COVID-19 hospitalized patients 6 months after discharge, long COVID and significant activity limitation among adults, incidence of diabetes following COVID-19 vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 infection in Hong Kong, and diabetes following SARS-CoV-2 infection: Incidence, persistence, and implications of COVID-19 vaccination.

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Links for this episode

Florida local transmission of dengue cases (Outbreak News)
Infants admitted to US ICU for RSV infection (JAMA)
Long term risk of death and readmission after hospital admission with COVID-19 (BMJ)
Outcomes of Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir Treatment in patients with Kidney disease and COVID-19 (CID)
Fluvoxamine vs placebo for outpatients with symptomatic COVID-19 (OFID)
The effect of corticosteroids, antibiotics, and anticoagulants on the development of post-COVID-19 syndrome in hospitalized patients (CEM)
Long COVID and significant activity limitation among adults (CDC)
Incidence of Diabetes following COVID-19 vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 infection (PLOS)
Diabetes following SARS-CoV-2 infection (BMJ)
Contribute to our Floating Doctors fundraiser at PWB
Letters read on TWiV 1036
Dr. Griffin's COVID treatment summary (pdf)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 1035: Poxvirus wars, warp speed COVID-19 vaccine rollout Aug 13, 2023

Show notes

TWiV dissects a study of COVID-19 vaccination which shows that the timing of initial rollout affects disease outcomes more substantially than final coverage or degree of socioeconomic disparity, and discovery of a novel cellular defense comprising a nuclease that is activated by poxvirus infection and cleaves a specific tRNA molecule to inhibit protein synthesis.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Alan Dove, and Brianne Barker

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Links for this episode

MicrobeTV Discord Server
MicrobeTV store at Cafepress
Research assistant position in Rosenfeld Lab CBER/FDA (pdf)
Impact of COVID-19 vaccination trends (Sci Adv)
Poxvirus-activated anticodon nuclease (Sci Adv)
Letters read on TWiV 1035
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Brianne – Project Hail Mary Rich – Bird Buddy Alan – Blood, Sweat, and Pixels and Press Reset Vincent – Are microplastics spreading infectious disease?

Listener Picks

Tom – Henrietta Lacks family settles lawsuit Kathleen – Why Insect Memories May Not Survive Metamorphosis

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 1034: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin Aug 12, 2023

Show notes

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses the immunogenicity, safety, and preliminary efficacy evaluation of OVX836, a nucleoprotein-based universal influenza A vaccine candidate, association between nose picking and SARS-CoV-2 incidence, a cohort study in hospital health care workers; effect of COVID-19 vaccination and booster on maternal-fetal outcomes, dynamics of inflammatory responses after SARS-CoV-2 infection by vaccination status in the USA, does monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 impact short and long- term outcomes in a large generalizable population, persistent endothelial dysfunction in post-COVID-19 syndrome and its associations with symptom severity and chronic inflammation, core mitochondrial genes are down-regulated during SARS-CoV-2 infection of rodent and human hosts.

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Links for this episode

Immunogenicity, safety, and preliminary efficacy evaluation of OVX836, a influenza A vaccine candidate (The Lancet)
Association between nose picking and SARS-CoV-2 incidence (PLOSONE)
Effect of COVID-19 vaccination and booster on maternal-fetal outcomes (Lancet Digital Health)
Dynamics of inflammatory responses after SARS-CoV-2 infection by vaccination status (The Lancet)
Does monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 impact short and long-term outcomes (BMJ)
Persistent endothelial dysfunction in post-COVID-19 syndrome and its associations with symptom severity and inflammation (Angiogenesis)
Core mitochondrial genes are down-regulated during SARS-CoV-2 infection of rodent and human hosts (STM)
Contribute to our Floating Doctors fundraiser at PWB
Letters read on TWiV 1034
Dr. Griffin's COVID treatment summary (pdf)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV Special: Toppling the anti-vaxxer pyramid with "flu-shot cheerleader" Desiree Townsend Aug 11, 2023

Show notes

Vincent speaks with Desirée Townsend about how she felt used and indoctrinated by the anti-vaxx movement, the science surrounding her autoimmune disorder, and why she is no longer the "flu shot cheerleader," but a cheerleader for flu shots.

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Links for this episode

Desiree on Instagram and LinkedIn
'Flu-shot cheerleader' speaks out (NBC)
'Flu-shot cheerleader' back with a warning (NBC)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 1033: Freediving with nanobodies and interferon Aug 06, 2023

Show notes

TWiV notes the passing of Harald zur Hausen, dengue breaking records in the Americas, inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 infection and inflammation by modulation of type I IFN, and an armed nanobody that protects mice against influenza A and B disease.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Angela Mingarelli

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Links for this episode

MicrobeTV Discord Server
MicrobeTV store at Cafepress
Position in Rosenfeld Laboratory (pdf)
Paul and the Mosquitos (pdf, English)
Other childrens books (SMVIROLOGIA)
Dengue breaking records in Americas (Nature)
Harald zur Hausen, 1936-2023 (Nature)
Vincent interviews zur Hausen (ASM)
COVID-19 and modulation of IFN (Sci Immunol)
Burning down the mouse (TWiV 900)
Armed nanobody protects against influenza (Sci Immunol)
Click chemistry Nobel prizes (The Nobel Prize)
Letters read on TWiV 1033
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Angela – The Deepest Breath Kathy – Pink snow Vincent – Scientist vs PowerPoint

Listener Picks

Fernando – The Enigma of Reason by Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber and Language vs. Reality by Nick Enfield

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 1032: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin Aug 05, 2023

Show notes

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses predicting COVID-19 incidence using wastewater surveillance data, use of wastewater metrics to track COVID-19 in the US, wastewater-based epidemiology predicts COVID-19-induced weekly new hospital admissions in over 150 USA counties, association between duration of SARS-CoV-2 positivity and long COVID, rapid direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in exhaled breath at the point of care, effectiveness of oral Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir vs. intravenous three-day Remdesivir in preventing progression to severe COVID-19, NIH launching of several phase 2 long-COVID treatment trials.

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Links for this episode

Predicting COVID-19 incidence using wastewater surveillance data (CDC)
Use of wastewater metrics to track COVID-19 in the US (JAMA)
Wastewater-based epidemiology predicts COVID-19-induced new hospital admissions (Nature)
Association between duration of SARS-CoV-2 positivity and long COVID (JID)
Rapid direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in exhaled breath at the point of care (ACS)
Effectiveness of oral Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir vs. intravenous three-day Remdesivir in preventing COVID-19 progression (Viruses)
NIH has launched several phase 2 long-COVID treatment trials (NIH)
Fatigue can shatter a person (Atlantic)
Contribute to our Floating Doctors fundraiser at PWB
Letters read on TWiV 1032
Dr. Griffin's COVID treatment summary (pdf)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 1031: Death on the West Nile Jul 30, 2023

Show notes

TWiV notes the passing of virologist Michael BA Oldstone, a study to assess the performance of rapid antigen tests to detect symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the presence of antibodies to type I interferons in ~40% of patients with West Nile virus encephalitis.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Alan Dove

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Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

MicrobeTV Discord Server
MicrobeTV store at Cafepress
Position in Rosenfeld Laboratory (pdf)
XKCD on antivaxxers
RFK Jr. CDC or FDA head? (Politico)
Performance of rapid antigen tests (Ann Int Med)
Guidance on rapid antigen tests (FDA)
Autoantibodies to IFN in West Nile virus encephalitis (JEM)
Letters read on TWiV 1031
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Rich – The Final Covid-19 Grand Rounds: What Have We Learned? Alan – Teaching biology to Tibetan Buddhist monks Vincent – I got it from Agnes by Tom Lehrer and Why Oppenheimer has important lessons for scientists today

Listener Picks

Ryan – Paul Offit on PBS Newshour to explain RFK Jr.'s Congressional Hearing

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 1030: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin Jul 29, 2023

Show notes

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses the use of RSV vaccines in older adults: recommendations of the advisory committee on immunization practices, case report of leprosy in Central Florida, blood group A enhances SARS-CoV-2 infection, predicting COVID-19 incidence using wastewater surveillance data, a common allele of HLA associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, prevalence of low-frequency, antiviral resistance variants in SARS-CoV-2 isolates in Ontario, Canada, viral resistance analyses from the Remdesivir phase 3 adaptive COVID-19 treatment trial-1, impact of Molnupiravir treatment on patient-reported COVID-19 symptoms in the phase 3 move-out trial, Molnupiravir for treatment of adults with mild or moderate COVID-19, delayed intubation associated with in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure who fail heated and humified high flow nasal canula, relationship between azithromycin and cardiovascular outcomes in unvaccinated patients with COVID‐19 and preexisting cardiovascular disease, and the effects of COVID-19 on cognitive performance in a community-based cohort, clinical phenotypes and quality of life to define post-COVID-19 syndrome.

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Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Use of RSV vaccines in older adults (CDC)
Case report of leprosy in Central Florida (EID)
Blood group A enhances SARS-CoV-2 infection (Blood)
Predicting COVID-19 incidence using wastewater surveillance data (EID)
Common allele of HLA associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection (Nature)
Prevalence of low-frequency antiviral resistance variants in SARS-CoV-2 isolates (JAMA)
Viral resistance analyses from the Remdesivir phase 3 treatment trial (JID)
Impact of Molnupiravir treatment on patient-reported COVID-19 symptoms (CID)
Molnupiravir for treatment of adults with mild or moderate COVID-19 (CMI)
Delayed intubation associated with in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19 (BMC)
Relationship between Azithromycin and cardiovascular outcomes in unvaccinated patients with COVID‐19 (JAHA)
The effects of COVID-19 on cognitive performance in a community-based cohort (eClinical)
Clinical phenotypes and quality of life to define post-COVID-19 syndrome (eClinical)
Contribute to our FIMRC fundraiser at PWB
Letters read on TWiV 1030
Dr. Griffin's COVID treatment summary (pdf)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

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