This Week in Virology

Latest Episodes:

TWiV 883: COVID-19 clinical update #108 with Dr. Daniel Griffin Apr 02, 2022

Show notes

In COVID-19 clinical update #107, Daniel Griffin reviews vaccine booster doses, at-home testing, transmission in ferrets, improving indoor air quality, trials of BCG, ivermectin, and fluvoxamine, vaccination during pregnancy, mRNA vaccines and Fc functions, anti-platelet and aspirin therapy and a trial of prone positioning.

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

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

FDA authorizes second booster (FDA)
Second booster and mortality (Res Square)
Booster effectiveness vs hospitalization (MMWR)
SARS-CoV-2 confections (Lancet)
At-home testing (MMWR)
Transmission study in ferrets (PLoS Path)
Improving indoor air quality (EPA)
BCG vaccine no effect on viral infections (Clin Inf Dis)
Vaccination during pregnancy (JAMA)
mRNA vaccines and different Fc functions (Sci Transl Med)
Ivermectin clinical trial (NEJM)
Fluvoxamine clinical trial (Lancet)
Antiplatelet therapy (JAMA)
Aspirin and in-hospital mortality (JAMA)
Proning trial (Brit Med J)
Dr. Griffin's treatment guide (pdf)
Contribute to ASTMH fundraiser at PWB 41:20
Letters read on TWiV 883
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

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

TWiV 882: Elispot on about T cells and lipids Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

Vincent and Brianne review the need to better understand T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection to better inform public health decisions, and how IL-1 and IL-1ra are important regulators of the inflammatory response to RNA vaccines.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Brianne Barker

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

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Understanding T cell responses during COVID-19 (Science Immunol)
IL-1 and IL-1ra are keys to inflammation after RNA vaccination (Nature Immunol)
Letters read on TWiV 882
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Brianne – Covid restrictions prevented dengue in hundreds of thousands of people in 2020 Vincent – Scotch Dual Lock 250 Reclosable Fastener

Listener Picks

Erin –JWT Preparation and Xploration Outer Space

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

TWiV 881: 50 ways to zap your virus Mar 27, 2022

Show notes

TWiV describes the identification of a monoclonal antibody that provides broad protection against a variety of hantaviruses, and development of an oral remdesivir-like antiviral that ameliorates viral disease in mice.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Amy Rosenfeld

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

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Monoclonal antibody provides broad hantavirus protection (Sci Transl Med)
Prometheus Project (TWiV 578)
Oral antiviral related to Remdesivir (Sci Transl Med)
Letters read on TWiV 881
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Dickson – World's tallest wooden building Amy – Virus hunter in the Wuhan market Rich – WorldPop (example) Vincent – Karst Stone Paper

Listener Picks

Neva – Can we vaccinate against EBV? and Paul Sutter reading a science paper

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

TWiV 880: COVID-19 clinical update #107 with Dr. Daniel Griffin Mar 26, 2022

Show notes

In COVID-19 clinical update #107, Daniel Griffin discusses Moderna vaccine results in children, hospitalization by ethnicity, BA.2 severity in children, placentitis and thrombohematoma during pregnancy, predictive value of symptoms for diagnosis, Evusheld activity against BA.1 and BA.2, Remdesivir resistance, Ivermectin with and without strongyloidiasis, inhaled ciclesonide, home telemonitoring, pulse oximetry for remote monitoring, effectiveness of anti-platelet therapy, and deaths in Zambia.

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

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Moderna vaccine results in children (Moderna)
Delta/Omicron hospitalization by ethnicity (MMWR)
Intrinsic BA.2 severity in unvaccinated children (Lancet)
Children and COVID state-level data (AAP)
Placentitis and thrombohematoma during pregnancy (JAMA)
Predictive value of symptoms for diagnosis (Clin Inf Dis)
FDA to discuss booster strategy (FDA)
Evusheld activity against BA.1 and BA.2 (AstraZeneca and bioRxiv)
Remdesivir resistance in immunocompromised patient (Nature Comm)
Ivermectin for COVID with and without strongyloidiasis (JAMA)
Inhaled ciclesonide for outpatient treatment (Clin Micro Inf)
Home telemonitoring for infection (J Telemed Telecare)
Effectiveness of pulse oximetry in remote monitoring (Lancet)
Effects of anti-platelet therapy (JAMA)
COVID deaths in Zambia (medRxiv)
Contribute to ASTMH fundraiser at PWB
Letters read on TWiV 880
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

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

TWiV 879: Indolent, resistant, and losing our TMPRSS Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

TWiV reviews the emergence of remdesivir-resistant SARS-CoV-2 during treatment of a persistently infected immunocompromised patient, and how altered TMPRSS2 utilization by the Omicron variant influences infectivity and fusion.

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

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

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

ASV 2022
Emergence of remdesivir resistance (Nature Comm)
How to stall a copy machine (TWiV 819)
Omicron altered TMPRSS2 usage (Nature)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Brianne – NSURP 2022 Kathy – Virology Jobs Rich – 10 Steps from Seed to Cup (Graphic) Alan – Fathoms: The World in The Whale, by Rebecca Giggs Vincent – Worldwaterday.org

Listener Picks

Jeremy – Archaeology of Light

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

TWiV 878: Shape matters sometimes Mar 20, 2022

Show notes

TWiV revisits chronic wasting disease of cervids and the ability of the prions to infect meadow voles and raccoons, and the suggestion that stochastic assembly of influenza virus particles may play a role in phenotypic diversity.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Amy Rosenfeld

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

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

CWD in meadow voles and raccoons (Emerg Inf Dis)
Unusual infectious agents (Virology Live)
Low fidelity influenza virus assembly (Cell)
Shape-shifting viruses (TWiV 743)
From variolous effluvia to VLPs (TWiV 170)
A pox on your horse (TWiV 478)
Letters read on TWiV 878
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Dickson – James Webb Space Telescope and Nature Conservancy Photo Contest Amy – A new strategy for staying one step ahead of the virus Rich – Searching for the origin of the smallpox vaccine: Edward Jenner and his little-known horsepox hypothesis Vincent – Blacktail Studio

Listener Picks

Richard – Water Structure and Science

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

TWiV 877: COVID-19 clinical update #106 with Dr. Daniel Griffin Mar 19, 2022

Show notes

In COVID-19 clinical update #106, Daniel Griffin covers failure of ivermectin to improve hospitalization, increased hospitalization of children with Omicron, seroconversion of children versus adults, effectiveness of Pfizer mRNA vaccine in children, high vaccine effectiveness in Finland against Omicron, distinct long COVID clinical phenotypes, and estimating worldwide excess mortality.

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

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Ivermectin did not reduce hospitalizations (Wall St J)
Increased hospitalization of children with Omicron (MMWR)
Seroconversion of children vs adults (JAMA)
Effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children (MMWR)
High vaccine effectiveness in Finland (medRxiv)
Distinct long COVID clinical phenotypes (Open Forum Inf Dis)
Estimating excess mortality (Lancet)
Contribute to ASTMH fundraiser at PWB
Letters read on TWiV 877
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

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

TWiV 876: Spillover market with Michael Worobey Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

Michael Worobey joins TWiV to explain evidence that SARS-CoV-2 emerged via the wildlife trade and that the Huanan market was the unambiguous epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

Guest: Michael Worobey

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

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Early COVID-19 cases in Wuhan (TWiV 833)
Huanan market was epicenter of COVID-19 (Zenodo)
Two spillover events launched COVID-19 pandemic (Zenodo)
Robert Malone and Peter McCullough: A litany of untruths (Decoding the Gurus)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Brianne – Kartchner Caverns (info from Wikipedia here) Kathy – Laminar flow and turbulent flow Rich – Wikipedia Vincent – The Human Lake by Carl Zimmer

Listener Picks

Brad – NASASpaceflight

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

TWiV 875: Animal house Mar 13, 2022

Show notes

TWiV discusses the virome of game animals in China, and the finding that binding of sarbecoviruses to ACE2 is an ancestral and evolvable trait.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Amy Rosenfeld

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

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

WHO declaration of COVID-19 pandemic
Virome of China game animals (Cell)
ACE2 binding is ancestral and evolvable (Nature)
Letters read on TWiV 875
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Dickson – Ship found at the bottom of the sea Amy – Vaccinating kids has never been easy Vincent – State data and CDC data on children and COVID-19

Listener Picks

Andrew – Books by Randall Munroe

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

TWiV 874: COVID-19 clinical update #105 with Dr. Daniel Griffin Mar 12, 2022

Show notes

In COVID-19 clinical update #105, Daniel Griffin discusses changes in brain structure after infection, dementia in patients with pneumonia, Paxlovid in children, mask effectiveness in schools, host factors and severe disease, post-acute symptoms, and the mission of CEPI.

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

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode