This Week in Virology

Latest Episodes:

TWiV 961: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin Dec 10, 2022

Show notes

In his weekly clinical update Dr. Griffin discusses Mpox (formerly monkeypox) in women: epidemiological features and clinical characteristics of mpox cases in Spain, April to November 2022, triage of patients with Ebola virus disease, SARS-CoV-2 serology and self-reported infection among adults, serological markers of SARS-CoV-2 infection; anti-nucleocapsid antibody positivity may not be the ideal marker of natural infection in vaccinated individuals, sensitivity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein antibody for breakthrough infections during the epidemic of the Omicron variants, effect of wearing glasses on risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the community, and data-driven identification of post-acute SARS-CoV-2 infection subphenotypes.

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Links for this episode

Mpox in women: Epidemiological features and clinical characteristics of cases (Eurosurveillance)
Triage of patients with Ebola virus disease (The Lancet)
SARS-CoV-2 serology and self-reported infection among adults (CDC)
Serological markers of SARS-CoV-2 infection (JID)
Sensitivity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein antibody (Journal of infection)
Effect of wearing glasses on risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the community (JAMA)
Paxlovid patient eligbiliity screening checklist (FDA)
Data-driven identification of post-acute SARS-CoV-2 infection subphenotypes (Nature)
Contribute to our MicrobeTV fundraiser at PWB
Dr. Griffin's treatment guide (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 961
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 960: Getting funky with Dan Wilson Dec 04, 2022

Show notes

Dan Wilson of Debunk the Funk joins TWiV to explain why he decided to take on science misinformation and how he critiques people who promulgate incorrect information.

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

Guest: Dan Wilson

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Links for this episode

Support MicrobeTV with a Spike t-shirt (Vaccinated.us) with promo code MicrobeTV
International Scientific Coordinator Position (agajewski at icsnicaragua.org for more info)
Debunk the Funk (YouTube)
Letters read on TWiV 960
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Dickson – Jazz Project: InstrumentalTrumpet: Clifford Brown/Miles Davis/Winton Marsalis. Clifford Brown: Signature album: Study In Brown, Signature song: Sandu; Miles Davis: Signature albums: Kind Of Blue; Sketches Of Spain; Porgy And Bess; Miles. Signature song: Time After Time. Wynton Marsalis: Signature album: Standard Time. Signature song: Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans Brianne – Physicists Create a Wormhole Rich – Dec 1 APOD: Artemis 1 Flight Day 13 Vincent – An Ancient Language, Once on the Brink, Is a British Isle's Talk of the Town

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 959: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin Dec 03, 2022

Show notes

In his weekly clinical update Dr. Griffin discusses effectiveness of influenza vaccination of pregnant women for prevention of maternal and early infant Influenza-associated hospitalizations in South Africa, a multivalent nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccine against all known influenza virus subtypes, single and 2-dose vaccinations with modified vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic induce durable B cell memory responses comparable to replicating smallpox vaccines, whether the risk of still and preterm birth is affected by the timing of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy, medical masks versus N95 respirators for preventing COVID-19 among health care workers, alarming antibody evasion properties of rising SARS-CoV-2 BQ and XBB subvariants, real-world evidence of novel treatments for COVID-19 on mortality: a nationwide comparative cohort study of hospitalized patients in the 1st, 2nd, 3rdand 4th wave in the Netherlands, and effectiveness and safety of extended thromboprophylaxis in post-discharge patients with COVID-19.

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Links for this episode

Effectiveness of Influenza vaccination in pregnant women (OFID)
Multivalent nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccine against Influenza subtypes (Science)
Single and 2-dose vaccinations with modified vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (JID)
Is the risk of still and preterm birth affected by the timing of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection? (AJOG)
Medical masks versus N95 respirators for preventing COVID-19 among health care workers (ACP)
Bebtelovimab fact sheet for providers (FDA)
Alarming antibody evasion properties of rising SARS-CoV-2 BQ and XBB subvariants (bioRxiV)
Paxlovid patient eligbiliity screening checklist (FDA)
Real-world evidence of novel treatments for COVID-19 on mortality (OFID)
Effectiveness and safety of extended thromboprophylaxis in post-discharge patients with COVID-19 (Thrombosis Research)
Contribute to our MicrobeTV fundraiser at PWB
Dr. Griffin's treatment guide (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 959
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 958: Pass the RNA and have some venison pi Nov 27, 2022

Show notes

The TWiV team reveals a variant SARS-CoV-2 that emerged in deer with deer-to-human transmission, and hybrid virus particles produced by co-infection with influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus particles.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

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Links for this episode

Support MicrobeTV with a Spike t-shirt (Vaccinated.us) with promo code MicrobeTV
Testing and evaluation specialist (Harris County Public Health)
Oveta Fuller tribute (YouTube)
Divergent SARS-CoV-2 in deer (Nat Micro)
Hybrid influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus particles (Nat Micro)
Letters read on TWiV 958
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Dickson – Jazz Project: Vocals Best female vocalists: Ella Fitzgerald/Billie Holiday, Betty Carter Best Male Vocalists: Mel Tormé/Joe Williams/Tony Bennett Brianne – ASV Curriculum Guidelines for Virology Courses Kathy – The Snow Cruiser Alan – Rescuing bats in Ukraine Vincent – Woodpeckers: The Hole Story PBS

Listener Picks

Florencia – World of Viruses Miguel – Foldscope

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 957: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin Nov 26, 2022

Show notes

In his weekly clinical update Dr. Griffin discusses human monkeypox virus infection in women and non-binary individuals during the 2022 outbreaks, changes in population immunity against infection and severe disease from SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants in the United States, updates on COVID-19–related mortality, impact of community masking on COVID-19, effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines against hospitalization with Omicron sub-lineages BA.4 and BA.5 in England, cardiovascular outcomes after Tixagevimab and Cilgavimab use for pre-exposure prophylaxis against COVID-19, how Paxlovid is associated with decreased hospitalization rate among adults with COVID-19, inside the mind of an anti-paxxer, and angiotensin receptor blockers for the treatment of COVID-19.

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Links for this episode

Human monkeypox virus infection in women and non-binary individuals (The Lancet)
Changes in population immunity against infection and severe disease from variants (Medrxiv)
Updates on COVID-19 related mortality (CDC)
Impact of community masking on COVID-19 (Science)
Effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines against hospitalization (The Lancet)
Cardiovascular outcomes after tixagevimab and cilgavimab use for pre-exposure prophylaxis (CID)
Bebtelovimab fact sheet for providers (FDA)
Paxlovid associated with decreased hospitalization among adults (CDC)
Inside the mind of an Anti-Paxxer (The Atlantic)
Paxlovid patient eligbiliity screening checklist (FDA)
Angiotensin receptor blockers for the treatment of COVID-19 (BMJ)
Long COVID treatment research study (Stanford)
HHS long COVID study (pdf)
Biden administration requests long COVID fu
Contribute to our MicrobeTV fundraiser at PWB
Dr. Griffin's treatment guide (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 957
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 956: A domesticated viral envelope with Cedric Feschotte and John Anthony Frank Nov 20, 2022

Show notes

Cedric and John join TWiV to discuss their research showing that a human protein derived from an ancient retrovirus infection can protect against infection by other retroviruses.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

Guest: Cedric Feschotte and John Anthony Frank

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Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Support MicrobeTV with a Spike t-shirt (Vaccinated.us) with promo code MicrobeTV
Cedric on TWiV 935
Antiviral retroviral protein (Science)
Stealing genes, facing consequences (Science)
Letters read on TWiV 956
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Kathy – Wastewater Dashboard Rich – Artemis I Mission; Artemis I launch; Artemis I Map Vincent – Pasta Grammar

Listener Picks

Rich – Watch a virus in the moments before it attacks Justin – Respiratory syncytial virus

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 955: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin Nov 19, 2022

Show notes

In his weekly clinical update Dr. Griffin discusses the four things to know about RSV, the burden of respiratory syncytial virus in healthy term-born infants in Europe, the diagnostic accuracy of rapid diagnostic tests for Ebola virus disease, evaluating the accuracy of self-collected swabs for the diagnosis of monkeypox, tecovirimat is effective against human monkeypox virus in vitro at nanomolar concentrations, acute and postacute sequelae associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, clinical course of SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovery in lung transplant recipients, effectiveness of a third BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, maternal antibody response and transplacental transfer following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination in pregnancy, impact of community masking on COVID-19, Lifting Universal Masking in Schools – Covid-19 Incidence among Students and Staff, systematic review of the clinical effectiveness of Tixagevimab/Cilgavimab for prophylaxis of COVID-19 in immunocompromised patients, comparative effectiveness of sotrovimab and molnupiravir for prevention of severe COVID-19 outcomes in patients in the community, early adoption of anti–SARS-CoV-2 pharmacotherapies among us veterans with mild to moderate COVID-19, evaluation of viral and symptom rebound differences between Paxlovid and untreated COVID-19 participants, monoclonal antibodies for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy, twice daily oral zinc in the treatment of patients with COVID-19, cognitive deficits in long Covid-19, severe Neuro-COVID is associated with peripheral immune signatures, autoimmunity and neurodegeneration, and long-lasting symptoms after an acute COVID-19 infection and factors associated with their resolution.

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Links for this episode

Four things to know about RSV (Gates Foundation)
The burden of RSV in healthy term-born infants in Europe (The Lancet)
Diagnostic accuracy of rapid tests for Ebola (CMI)
Accuracy of self-collected swabs for diagnosis of Monkeypox (CID)
Tecovirimat is effective against human monkeypox virus in vitro (Nature)
Acute and postacute sequelae associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection (NatureMedicine)
SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovery in lung transplant recipients (Transplant Infectious Diseases)
Effectiveness of third COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy (Nature Communications)
Maternal antibody response and transplacental transfer following infection or vaccination (CID)
Impact of community masking on COVID-19 (Science)
Lifting universal masking in schools (NEJM)
Bebtelovimab fact sheet for providers (FDA)
Effectiveness of Tixagevimab/Cilgavimab for prophylaxis of COVID-19 (medRxiv)
Effectiveness of Sotrovimab and Molnupiravir for prevention of severe COVID-19 outcomes (BMJ)
Early adoption of Anti–SARS-CoV-2 pharmacotherapies among US veterans (JAMA)
PAXLOVID patient eligibility screening checklist (FDA)
Viral and symptom rebound differences between Paxlovid and untreated COVID-19 participants (medRxiv)
Monoclonal antibodies for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy (Annals of Internal Medicine)
Remdesivir fact sheet for providers (Veklury)
Twice daily oral zinc in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 (CID)
Cognitive deficits in long COVID-19 (NEJM)
Severe Neuro-COVID associated with peripheral immune signatures, autoimmunity and neurodegeneration (Nature Communications)
Long-lasting symptoms after an acute COVID-19 Infection (JAMA)
Contribute to our MicrobeTV fundraiser at PWB
Dr. Griffin's treatment guide (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 955
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 954: Speculating sarbecovirus spillovers with Michael Letko Nov 13, 2022

Show notes

Michael Letko joins TWiV to discuss his research on understanding cell receptors required for sarbecovirus entry, including an ACE2-dependent isolate from Russian bats that is resistant to vaccine-induced antibodies.

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

Guest: Michael Letko

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Support MicrobeTV with a Spike t-shirt (Vaccinated.us) with promo code MicrobeTV
Cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 and other sarbecoviruses (Nat Micro)
ACE2-dependent sarbecovirus in Russian bats (PLoS Path)
Letters read on TWiV 954
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Brianne – Sometimes This Octopus is So Mad it Just Wants to Throw Something or The Cosmic Bat Nebula Kathy – APODs Jupiter, Lunar Eclipse Blood Moon, Ice Giant Rich – Mirror-image T7 transcription of chirally inverted ribosomal and functional RNAs (Wiki: Mirror Life) Vincent – The 2022-2023 Respiratory Virus Season Hits Early and Hard: Part 1

Listener Pick

Debby – Celebrate Bob McDonald's 30 years as host of Quirks & Quarks

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 953: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin Nov 12, 2022

Show notes

In his weekly clinical update Dr. Griffin discusses high demand for Amoxicillin causing shortages amid child RSV surge, epidemiologic and clinical features of children and adolescents aged

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Links for this episode

High demand for Amoxicillin causing shortages amid RSV surge (Washington Post)
Epidemiologic and clinical features of children & adolescents with monkeypox (CDC)
Low risk of SARS-Cov2 transmission by fomites (IDSA)
Nucleocapsid Antigenemia Is a marker of acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection (JID)
Impact of community masking on COVID-19 (Science)
Remdesivir fact sheet for providers (Veklury)
Protection against Omicron from vaccination & previous infection in prison system (NEJM)
Nirmatrelvir and the risk of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (medRxiv)
Bebtelovimab for high-risk outpatients with COVID-19 (OFID)
Imprinted SARS-CoV-2 immunity induces convergent Omicron evolution (bioRxiv)
PAXLOVID patient eligibility screening checklist (FDA)
Can SARS-CoV-2 trigger new onset of autoimmune disease in adults? (Cell)
Bebtelovimab fact sheet for providers (FDA)
Modeling the effects of global vaccine sharing on the COVID-19 pandemic (Nature)
Contribute to our MicrobeTV fundraiser at PWB
Dr. Griffin's treatment guide (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 953
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 952: Jake Scott put the ID in COVID-19 Nov 06, 2022

Show notes

Infectious Disease physician Jake Scott joins TWiV to provide a west coast clinical perspective on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to the impact of vaccines, antivirals, variants of concern and mortality.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

Guest: Jake Scott

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Support MicrobeTV with a Spike t-shirt (Vaccinated.us) with promo code MicrobeTV
Omicron variant reproduction ex vivo (Nature)
Clinical outcomes with Omicron (Nat Med)
Low neutralizing antibodies induced by bivalent booster (NEJM)
Antibody responses to bivalent booster (bioRxiV)
Spike T cell responses not enhanced by bivalent booster (Sci Immunol)
Pandemic end will not be televised (BMJ)
Conflation of infection and disease (Twitter)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!