This Week in Virology

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin briefly discusses the E.coli outbreak associated with onions from McDonald’s before deep diving into the announcement of Robert F Kennedy Jr. nomination for Secretary of Human and Health Services with highlights from MicrobeTV’s own Vincent Racaniello and Paul Offit (Beyond the Noise), the global measles outbreak, underutilization of influenza antivirals for children and teens, the $350 million 2025 order for mpox vaccination, before reviewing the recent statistics on SARS-CoV-2 infection, the WasterwaterScan dashboard, the effectiveness of N95 mask, the interplay between transmission and immunity for virus spread, where to find PEMGARDA, and translational science being conducted to understand long COVID including ongoing clinical trials, development of animal models and how sex may affect outcomes. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Micky D’s onions linked to E. coli outbreak….another reason to not eat fast food (CDC) RFK Jr. series…..does he get anything right? (FactCheck.org) Salk polio vaccine : a calculated risk? (BMJ) How to conduct a controlled vaccine trial (American Journal Public Health Nations Health) Safety and efficacy of BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (NEJM) Another Safety and efficacy study: mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (NEJM) …..SERIOUSLY! can’t RFK Jr get it correct? (FactCheck.org) ‘I’ve Come Home Today’: RFK Jr. (the Defenders Children’s Health Defense News & Views) Thank God for sensible people: Racaniello and Offit (microbeTV) RFK Jr. : MAN CAN’T YOU GET ANYTHING RIGHT? (Annenberg Public Policy Center: University of Pennsylvania) No harm in repeating Vinny! Thank God for sensible people: Racaniello and Offit (microbeTV) Did America think Trump-Kennedy through? …..really did you think this through? (microbeTV) Make American Healthy Again? ……I will have fries with that….SUPERSIZED! (Wall Street Journal) Keep the United States HEALTHY! (Safe Communities Coalition) Measles in the US (CDC Measles: Rubeola) The merry-go-around of measles (JID) It is a measles outbreak! (CDC Measles: Rubeola) 10.3 million measles infections in 2023….but no vaccine (WHO) Underutilization of influenza antiviral treatment among children and adolescents (CDC MMWR) Increase in influenza infection in children…..(CIDRAP) Influenza weekly surveillance report: clift notes (CDC FluView) $340 million doses of mpox vaccine ordered for 2025 (Reuters) Mpox in NYC (JID) Respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses) COVID-19 deaths (CDC) COVID-19 national and regional trends (CDC) Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan) COVID-19 variant tracker (CDC) SARS-CoV-2 genomes galore (Nextstrain) N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirator use (JAMA Open Network) The Risk of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Community Indoor Settings (JID) Lower levels of household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 VOC Omicron compared to Wild-type: an interplay between transmissibility and immune status (JID) Enhanced placental antibody transfer efficiency with longer interval between maternal RSV vaccination and birth (AJOG: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology) Where to get pemgarda (Pemgarda) EUA for the pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 (INVIYD) Fusion center near you….if in NY (Prime Fusions) CDC Quarantine guidelines (CDC) NIH COVID-19 treatment guidelines (NIH) Infectious Disease Society guidelines for treatment and management (ID Society) Perceptions and Barriers to Outpatient Antiviral Therapy for COVID-19 and Influenza as Observed by Infectious Disease Specialists (OFID) Drug–Drug Interactions with Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir(Infectious Diseases and Therapy) Drug interaction checker (University of Liverpool) Real-world effectiveness of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir and molnupiravir  (CMI: Clinical Microbiology and Infection) Alleviation of COVID-19 Symptoms and Reduction in Healthcare Utilization Among High-Risk Patients Treated With Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (CID) Molnupiravir safety and efficacy (JMV) Convalescent plasma recommendation for immunocompromised (ID Society) What to do when sick with a respiratory virus (CDC) When your healthcare provider is infected/exposed with SARS-CoV-2 (CDC) Managing healthcare staffing shortages (CDC) Steroids, dexamethasone at the right time (OFID) Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org) Daniel Griffin’s evidence based medical practices for long COVID (OFID) Long-COVID Clinical Trials (RECOVER) Initiating Long Covid RECOVERy (Science Translational Medicine) Beyond acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in children (Science Translational Medicine) Long COVID and Osler’s Web: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (goodreads) Sex differences in post infection sequalae  (Science Translational Medicine) Symptoms after Lyme disease: What’s past is prologue (Science Translational Medicine) Animal models of Long COVID (Science Translational Medicine) Therapies for Long COVID (Science Translational Medicine) Sex differences and immune correlates of Long Covid development, symptom persistence, and resolution (Science Translational Medicine) The Long COVID ISSUE (Science Translational Medicine) Letters read on TWiV 1168 Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

TWiV reveals a novel H5N1 reassortant virus in Cambodia, circulating vaccine derived poliovirus type 2 in more countries, circulation in the blood of humans of infectious parvovirus B19 coated with active proteases, and B cell receptor dependent enhancement of dengue virus infection. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server MicrobeTV Fundraiser Novel H5N1 in Cambodia (medRxiv) More cVDVP2 circulation (polioeradication.org) Infectious parvovirus B19 with proteases (Nat Comm) B cell receptor enhancement of dengue disease (PLoS Path) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – See How Many Lives Vaccines Have Saved Around the World based on Lancet study Dickson – 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Kathy – 450 Million year old arthropods preserved in fool’s gold. Primary article Pyrite video Vincent – ‘We need to be ready for a new world’: scientists globally react to Trump election win Listener Picks Jack – Coronavirus vaccine update Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected] Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin apprises us about the first case of highly pathogenic influenza in Canda, children dying of influenza infection and novel genetic reassortments of the virus, the Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda, number of mpox infections, before reviewing the recent statistics on SARS-CoV-2 infection, the WasterwaterScan dashboard, how scientific mistrust has affected COVID-19 vaccine administration, resolution of the FDA hold on Novovax’s combination influenza and COVID vaccine, where to find PEMGARDA, how Paxlovid SAVES you money, when to use steroids to treat COVID-19 and how trace amounts of cytokines elicted during SARS-CoV-2 infection negatively impact cardiac function. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Bird flu flew into British Columbia Canada (Global News Canada) H5N1 in British Columbia (CIDRAP) Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza flies commercial and domestic (USDA) Countdown till the end of Marburg outbreak (WHO Rwanda) First kid’s death due to flu (CIDRAP) Influenza weekly surveillance report: clift notes (CDC FluView) H5N1 novel reassortments in migratory birds in China (Emerging Infectious Diseases) Serologic evidence of recent infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A (MMWR) Seriously? 50,000 mpox cases in African outbreak (CIDRAP) Respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses) COVID-19 deaths (CDC) COVID-19 national and regional trends (CDC) Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan) COVID-19 variant tracker (CDC) SARS-CoV-2 genomes galore (Nextstrain) Science trust: behind COVID 19 vaccine acceptance (Vaccine X) Vaccine mistrust levels are not budging (Healthday) FDA clinical hold lifted on Novavax’s combination COVID-flu vaccine(Reuters) Where to get pemgarda (Pemgarda) EUA for the pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 (INVIYD) Fusion center near you….if in NY (Prime Fusions) CDC Quarantine guidelines (CDC) NIH COVID-19 treatment guidelines (NIH) Infectious Disease Society guidelines for treatment and management (ID Society) Drug interaction checker (University of Liverpool) Real-world effectiveness of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir and molnupiravir  (CMI: Clinical Microbiology and Infection) Alleviation of COVID-19 Symptoms and Reduction in Healthcare Utilization Among High-Risk Patients Treated With Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (CID) Molnupiravir safety and efficacy (JMV) Convalescent plasma recommendation for immunocompromised (ID Society) What to do when sick with a respiratory virus (CDC) When your healthcare provider is infected/exposed with SARS-CoV-2 (CDC) Managing healthcare staffing shortages (CDC) Steroids, dexamethasone at the right time (OFID) Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org) Secondary bacterial infection follows COVID-19 (Nature Communications) Daniel Griffin’s evidence based medical practices for long COVID (OFID) Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 cardiovascular symptoms are associated with trace-level cytokines that affect cardiomyocyte function (Nature Medicine) Letters read on TWiV 1166 Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

TWiV notes the passing of virologist Diane Griffin, first H5N1 influenza virus in US pigs, Innate immune control of influenza virus interspecies adaptation via IFITM3, and antiviral trained innate immunity in alveolar macrophages after SARS-CoV-2 infection reduces secondary influenza A virus disease. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server MicrobeTV Fundraiser Diane Griffin passes (Johns Hopkins) Diane Griffin on TWiV 453 First H5N1 influenza virus in US pigs (CIDRAP) IFITM3 controls interspecies influenza virus infection (Nat Comm) Trained innate immunity by alveolar macrophages (Immunity) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Angela – See a giant ‘ghost particle’ detector and more — October’s best science images Brianne – October 27 APoD: Bat nebula Dickson – Nikon Small World Contest 2024 winners Kathy – AAAS 150th anniversary video, celebrating scientists and Pew’s 2024 annual Trust in Science survey findings Rich – Cats Basically Are a Liquid After All, Study Confirms Alan – HHMI’s Beautiful Biology site Vincent – EcoHealth Alliance Fights Back Listener Picks Hunter – Don’t stop me now: Queen’s Brian May on saving badgers — and the scientific method Anne – Reasons to be cheerful Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected] Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.