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KPFA - Corona Calls episodes
- Corona Calls for 01.05.2026
(Apologies for the one-week delay — I initially posted this to the wrong feed -b)
Discussed in this episode:- Influenza levels are rising quickly
- This year’s flu vaccine appears to be reducing the risk of hospitalization in adults by 30-40%. That’s a significant help, but a worse topline than in prior flu seasons. This is likely because the Influenza A subclade K, which has come to predominate, emerged too late to be specifically targeted by this year’s vaccine.
- The implications of RFK Jr’s CDC drastically changing the childhood vaccination schedule (which it had not done by airtime, but did announce before we published the podcast).
To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]
Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls for 01.05.2026 appeared first on KPFA.
38 min - Corona Calls for 12.15.2025 – The Illness Outlook for the Holidays
Discussed in this episode:
- Trendlines for respiratory illnesses that spread this time of year:
- National COVID rates are low but rising in some states, especially in the Northeast.
- Influenza rates are rising in line with previous years. One area of concern: vaccination rates for influenza are dropping, which could lead to more severe cases and deaths.
- RSV hospitalizations are down dramatically, largely thanks to the RSV vaccine approved in mid-2023.
- Levels of rhinovirus, which causes the common cold, are extremely elevated in Brian’s upper respiratory tract.
Corona Calls will be on a holiday hiatus until 2026. To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]
Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls for 12.15.2025 – The Illness Outlook for the Holidays appeared first on KPFA.
25 min - Corona Calls for 12.08.2025 – Hep B is Back, baby!
Discussed in this episode:
- RFK Jr.’s recently-reconfigured Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has reversed a nearly 35-year-old recommendation that all newborns receive vaccination for Hepatitis B. Other childhood vaccinations may be next.
To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]
(Because of KPFA’s fundraising schedule, we won’t be able to take live call-ins next week).
Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls for 12.08.2025 – Hep B is Back, baby! appeared first on KPFA.
24 min - Corona Calls for 12.01.2025 – The FDA’s cracking down on . . . vaccines
Discussed in this episode:
- Trump FDA appointee Vinay Prasad sent agency staff a lengthy, accusatory memo alleging without data that COVID vaccination was involved in the deaths of at least 10 children, and promising a stricter vaccine approval process moving forward.
To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]
Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls for 12.01.2025 – The FDA’s cracking down on . . . vaccines appeared first on KPFA.
26 min - Corona Calls for 11.24.2025 – the outlook for flu season
Discussed in this episode:
- H3N2 influenza has picked up a mutation (dubbed “subclade K”) that’s raising concerns for two reasons: 1) it accounts for a growing share of influenza samples that get genetically-sequenced, implying it has some growth advantage, and 2) the mutations emerged after the makeup of this year’s flu vaccine was approved and entered production.
- A resident of Washington State has died from the first-recorded human infection with H5N5 avian influenza.
To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]
Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls for 11.24.2025 – the outlook for flu season appeared first on KPFA.
38 min - Corona Calls for 11.17.2025 – Mailbag
An all-audience-questions episode, including:
- If I’ve been exposed but haven’t gotten sick, how long until I’m safe to be around other people?
- Are any of the currently-approved COVID vaccines better than the other ones available?
- How long until I need to get re-vaccinated for RSV
- If I’ve had shingles, do I still need the shingles vaccine?
To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]
Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls for 11.17.2025 – Mailbag appeared first on KPFA.
38 min - Corona Calls for 11.10.2025 – Flying Blind in Cold and Flu Season
Discussed in this episode:
- The government shutdown has deprived us of the statistics the CDC normally aggregates and publishes to track the prevalence of respiratory infections this time of year — but other sources of data suggest this season is off to a mild start
To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]
Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls for 11.10.2025 – Flying Blind in Cold and Flu Season appeared first on KPFA.
39 min - Corona Calls for 11.03.2025 – COVID and cardiac events; COVID vaccines and cancer
Discussed in this episode:
- A new study shows the risk of heart attack and stroke shoot up in the immediate aftermath of an infection with influenza or COVID 19, and stay elevated for weeks.
- Another study, in Nature, shows MRNA vaccines for Covid made cancer patients receiving immunotherapy respond better to treatment, and live longer.
To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]
Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls for 11.03.2025 – COVID and cardiac events; COVID vaccines and cancer appeared first on KPFA.
39 min - Corona Calls for 10.14.2025
Apologies for the delayed posting! Life, fund drive, and staff illnesses conspired to de-rail our normal publication schedule. Discussed in this episode:
- How the government shutdown, and CDC staff cuts carried out by the Trump administration, are impacting our capacity to respond to public health crises.
To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]
Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls for 10.14.2025 appeared first on KPFA.
38 min - Corona Calls from 10.06.2025
Apologies for the delayed posting! Life, fund drive, and staff illnesses conspired to de-rail our normal publication schedule. Discussed in this episode:
- A new study on long covid in young people published in The Lancet suggests each additional COVID infection increases the risk of getting long covid about as much as the first infection did.
To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]
Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls from 10.06.2025 appeared first on KPFA.
24 min
About KPFA - Corona Calls
From the publisher's feed
A weekly update on new research and developments concerning COVID-19 (and occasionally other infectious diseases that hit the news).
We take questions via call-in during the live broadcast, Mondays at 7:33am Pacific, streaming via kpfa.org. Podcasts with show notes go up later the same day. Between live shows, we take questions via email at [email protected] .
Our guest most weeks is Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. Our question-wrangler most weeks is Brian Edwards-Tiekert, host of KPFA’s morning public affairs program, UpFront.
Music: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.