This Week in Virology

By Vincent Racaniello

This Week in Virology is a netcast about viruses - the kind that make you sick.... more

· Medicine

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FAQs about This Week in Virology:

How many episodes does This Week in Virology have?

The podcast currently has 948 episodes available.

This Week in Virology episodes:

February 25, 2024TWiV 1091: Skeeter poo and obelisks too
TWiV reviews resurgence of Lassa fever in West Africa, at least 3 paralytic cases of cVDPV2 in Zimbabwe, CWD from eating prion-laden plants, measles in New Orleans and Broward County Florida, failure of Florida Surgeon General to support vaccination, a measles variant in Switzerland, SARS-CoV-2 persistent infections, leaky blood-brain-barrier for long COVID brain fog, West Nile virus transmitted among mosquitoes by the excreta, and viroid-like colonists of human microbiomes.

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

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

Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode

MicrobeTV Discord Server

MicrobeTV store at Cafepress

Become a member of ASV (asv.org)

Research assistant position in Rosenfeld Lab CBER/FDA (pdf)

The New City by Dickson Despommier

Viruses of Microbes 2024

Resurgence of Lassa fever (Science)

cVDPV2 in Zimbabwe (UNICEF)

CWD from eating plants (CIDRAP)

Measles in New Orleans (LA Dept Health)

SARS-CoV-2 persistent infections (Nature)

Leaky BBB for brain fog of long COVID (Nat Neurosci)

Measles in Broward County FL (7 News)

Failure of FL Surgeon General to support vaccination (X)

Measles variant (Eurosurveillance)

West Nile virus transmitted among mosquitos by excreta (bioRxiv)

Mosquito life cycle (YouTube)

Viroid-like colonists of human microbiomes (bioRxiv)

Letters read on TWiV 1091

Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks
Dickson – Sustainable energy in America 2024 factbook Kathy – Life Magnified USPS stamps Rich – “How plants communicate with each other when in danger” by Kasha Patel (Original Nature Communications article) Alan – A Sargasso Sea of Space card game. Vincent – Tell Me When It’s Over by Paul Offit

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]
...more
1h 50min
February 24, 2024TWiV 1090: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin
In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin reviews recent statistics on the circulation of respiratory syncytial virus before discussing uptake of the RSV vaccine Abrysvo or the monoclonal anti-RSV antibody nirsevimab to prevent severe disease following RSV infection in infants 8 months or younger before going over this week’s influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 virus statistics, including all circulating variants in the US, examines if self-testing is more accurate than clinician administered Binax rapid diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection, if N95 masks need a yearly fitting, how SARS-CoV-2 vaccination impacts the prevalence of long COVID, reviews the CDC guidelines for quarantine/ isolation following SARS-CoV-2 infection, continues to dispel the myth of viral rebound, how to pay for paxlovid, when to use steroids and the benefits of convalescent plasma, why determining the exact number of long COVID incidences is challenging, how the incidence and predictors for fatiguing illness following SARS-CoV-2 infection may used to reenforce the need for public health actions to prevent virus infection and the risks of respiratory pathologies including lung cancer associate with SARS-C0V-2 infection.
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Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode

Respiratory disease surveillance (CDC)

RSV surveillance (CDC)

RSV national trend (CDC)

RSV vaccination stats (CIDRAP)

Abrysvo vaccine stats (Axios)

RSV vaccination dashboard (CDC)

Influenza/flu surveillance (CDC)

Influenza/flu map (CDC)

COVID-19 hospital admissions (CDC)

COVID-19 national trend (CDC)

COVID-19 wastewater testing (biobot)

Variant tracker (CDC)

Variant hospital admissions (CDC)

Who is more accurate the clinician or the self for BinaxNow rapid testing (ASM Spectrum)

Annual N95 fitting (Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology)

How vaccination impacts long COVID prevalence (Annals of Epidemiology)

CDC Quarantine guidelines (CDC)

To rebound or to not rebound (MMWR)

Know your COVID-19 tools (ESMED)

How to pay for Paxlovid (PAXCESS)

Molnupiravir safety and efficacy (JMV)

Convalescent plasma recommendation for immunocompromised (IDSociety)

Steroids, dexamethasone at the right time (OFID)

Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org)

Long COVID in adults (MMWR)

Estimating and predicting fatiguing illness after SARS-CoV-2 infection (EIS)

Long term risks of respiratory disease following SARS-CoV-2 infection (eClinical Medicine)

Contribute to our ASTMH fundraiser at PWB

Letters read on TWiV 1080

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]
...more
36min
February 18, 2024TWiV 1089: Shoot out at the Circle-T ranch
TWiV reviews a fatal Alaskapox case, MERS in Kenya, diagnostic tests for Nipah and Lassa diseases, HPV vaccination rates in the US, cases of measles in Arizona and Minnesota, hepatitis C virus-derived RNA circles in infected cells, and prevention of respiratory virus transmission by resident memory CD8+ T cells.

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

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

Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode

MicrobeTV Discord Server

MicrobeTV store at Cafepress

Become a member of ASV (asv.org)

Research assistant position in Rosenfeld Lab CBER/FDA (pdf)

The New City by Dickson Despommier

Viruses of Microbes 2024

Fatal case of Alaskapox (AK Beacon)

MERS in Kenya (Emerg Inf Dis)

Diagnostic tests for Nipah and Lassa (CEPI)

Measles in Arizona and Minnesota

HCV-derived circular RNAs (PNAS)

Resident memory CD8 T cells prevent respiratory virus transmission (Nature)

Letters read on TWiV 1089 1:24:33

Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks
Dickson – Visualizing Science: Illustration and Beyond Brianne – Vaccination from the Misinformation Virus and Invisible Corps Alan – Preventing needlephobia in kids Vincent – Two new Djs I discovered Rosana Nun and Sunset Cartel

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]
...more
1h 50min
February 17, 2024TWiV 1088: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin
In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses the use of monoclonal antibody therapy to prevent RSV hospitalization of infants and use of GSK’s RSV vaccine Arexy to prevent severe disease following RSV infection in adults between 50-59 years before he reviews recent statistics on the circulation of respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 virus, including all circulating variants in the US, discusses if how the influenza vaccine is manufactured can reprogram the antibody response, cardiovascular consequences of influenza infection, mortality of chikungunya virus infection, if an alternative vaccination schedule impacts the anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune response, dispels the myth that increased mortality correlated with the first vaccine dose, continues to dispel the myth of viral rebound, how to pay for paxlovid, when to use steroids and the benefits of convalescent plasma, how manage long COVID including prevent burnout and compassion fatigue of caring for long COVID patients, whether the CDC or WHO definition of long COVID is beneficial or the use of directed questions, baselines test and listening to the patient tell their story are beneficial in making a long COVID diagnosis.
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Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode

Nirsevimab immunoprophylaxis to prevent RSV hospitalization (Eurosurveillance.)

Arexvy given Priority Review in US for the prevention of RSV disease in adults aged 50-59 (GSK)

Respiratory disease surveillance (CDC)

RSV surveillance (CDC)

RSV national trend (CDC)

Can antibodies be redirected from egg adapted epitopes using recombinant or cell cultured based influenza vaccines (Nat)

Can influenza infection lead to cardiovascular events (JID)

Risk of death after chikungunya infection and disease (Lancet)

Influenza/flu surveillance (CDC)

Influenza/flu map (CDC)

COVID-19 hospital admissions (CDC)

COVID-19 national trend (CDC)

COVID-19 wastewater testing (biobot)

Variant tracker (CDC)

Variant hospital admissions (CDC)

Alternative intervals between vaccine doses (Nat Comm)

Early mortality after first vaccination dose (CID)

CDC Quarantine guidelines (CDC)

To rebound or to not rebound (MMWR)

Know your COVID-19 tools (ESMED)

How to pay for Paxlovid (PAXCESS)

Molnupiravir safety and efficacy (JMV)

Convalescent plasma recommendation for immunocompromised (IDSociety)

Steroids, dexamethasone at the right time (OFID)

Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org)

Burnout compassion fatigue Long COVID (OFID)

Scoring PASC (JAMA)

What is your definition of the Long COVID (WHO)

Contribute to our ASTMH fundraiser at PWB

Letters read on TWiV 1088

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]
...more
59min
February 11, 2024TWiV 1087: Should old infections be forgot
TWiV reviews rhinovirus complications in infants, a new influenza antiviral drug, Oropouche fever in Brazil, measles in Maryland and Ohio, effect of eliminating non-medical vaccine exemptions in NY, foot-and-mouth disease in Europe, severe primary and secondary dengue infections, and therapeutic mitigation of measles-like immune amnesia and exacerbated disease after prior respiratory virus infections.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Angela Mingarelli

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

Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode

MicrobeTV Discord Server

MicrobeTV store at Cafepress

Become a member of ASV (asv.org)

Research assistant position in Rosenfeld Lab CBER/FDA (pdf)

The New City by Dickson Despommier

Viruses of Microbes 2024

Infant rhinovirus bronchiolitis contribution to hospital bed and vent use (JAMA Net Open)

Onradivir new influenza antiviral (Lancet)

Oropouche fever in Brazil (PAHO)

Maryland and Ohio measles

Repealing school vaccination exemptions (JAMA New Open)

Increases risk of FMDV entry into Europe (pig333)

Severe primary and secondary dengue (Nat Med)

Mitigation of measles immune amnesia and exacerbated disease (Nat Comm)

Letters read on TWiV 1087

Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks
Dickson – For Your Processing Pleasure: The Sharpest Pictures of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io in a Generation Angela – Whale Scientists Rich – Benefit-risk assessment of vaccines; The Brighton collaboration standardized module for vaccine benefit-risk assessment; Vaccine adverse events: causal or coincidental?; Austin area Singing Valentines Vincent – International Day of Women and Girls in Science, 11 February

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]
...more
1h 52min
February 10, 2024TWiV 1086: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin
In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses the how the pandemic influenced the healthcare job market and why people conceal their infectious diseases before he reviews most recent statistics on the circulation of respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 virus, including all circulating variants in the US, discusses if susceptibility and disease severity are inheritable traits, if vaccination during pregnancy protects neonates or leads to adverse effects, the effectiveness of a monovalent XBB.1.5 against disease resulting from infection with Omicron variants, whether vaccination in the same or opposite arms effect antibody protection, continues to dispel the myth of viral rebound, how to pay for paxlovid, when to use steroids and the benefits of convalescent plasma, how SARS-CoV-2 infection may alter one’s sleep patterns, what the health and economic burdens of mild disease are, and if there are predictors for recovery from fatigue and cognitive deficits following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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

Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode

Do you want a job in healthcare? (JAMA)

Why people don’t tell the truth about infectious diseases (Psychological Science)

Respiratory  disease surveillance (CDC)

RSV surveillance (CDC)

RSV national trend (CDC)

Influenza/flu surveillance  (CDC)

Influenza/flu map (CDC)

COVID-19  hospital admissions (CDC)

COVID-19 national trend (CDC)

COVID-19 wastewater testing (biobot)

Variant tracker (CDC)

Variant hospital admissions (CDC)

Is susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 inheritabile (Nat Comm)

Neonates of vaccinated mothers (JAMA)

How is the monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infection Sept 2023-Jan 2024 (MMWR)

Second dose in the opposite arm improves antibody response (JCI)

Virus specific immune repsonses following contralateral or ipsilateral immunication (eBioMedicine)

CDC Quarantine guidelines (CDC)

To rebound or to not rebound (MMWR)

Know your COVID-19 tools (ESMED)

How to pay for Paxlovid (PAXCESS)

Molnupiravir safety and efficacy (JMV)

Convalescent plasma recommendation for immunocompromised (IDSociety)

Steroids,dexamethasone at the right time (OFID)

Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org)

How COVID-19 affected your sleep (Frontiers in Public Health)

Health and economic burden of COVID-19 after illness (BMC Medicine)

Predicting recovery from fatigue and cognitive deficits after COVID-19 (eClinical Medicine)

Contribute to our ASTMH fundraiser at PWB

Letters read on TWiV 1086

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]
...more
44min
February 04, 2024TWiV 1085: When macrophages go to alimentary school
TWiV reviews measles outbreaks in England and Europe, 2 fatal Nipah virus cases in Bangladesh, yellow fever outbreak in Sudan, and discuss how the type of immunodeficiency influences the outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and programming of alveolar macrophages by intestinal bacteria that influences severity of respiratory viral infection.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Rich Condit

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

Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode

MicrobeTV Discord Server

MicrobeTV store at Cafepress

Become a member of ASV (asv.org)

Research assistant position in Rosenfeld Lab CBER/FDA (pdf)

The New City by Dickson Despommier

Viruses of Microbes 2024

Pig virus imperils food security in Borneo (Science)

Measles outbreaks in UK and Europe (Nature)

Fatal Nipah virus infections in Bangladesh (CIDRAP)

Yellow fever outbreak in Sudan (Crisis24)

COVID-19 influenced by type of immunodeficiency (Sci Transl Med)

Intestinal microbiota programming of alveolar macrophages (Cell Host Microbe)

Letters read on TWiV 1085

Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks
Dickson – JWST details of 19 spiral galactic centers Rich – Great White Shark Attack And Breach Vincent – Black History Month and Lost Photographs of Black America
Listener Picks
Louise – The Mystery Of The Village That Beat The Black Death Pierre – Three things airlines don’t want you to know Brandon – Professor Dave explains

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]
...more
1h 49min
February 03, 2024TWiV 1084: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin
In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses the how the pandemic influenced the healthcare job market before he reviews most recent statistics on the circulation of respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 virus, including all circulating variants in the US, discusses the safety of the prefusion RSV vaccine, if high or moderate dose of the quadrivalent influenza vaccine is better for protection against hospitalization, summarizes the new WHO COVID guidelines, revisits how to prevent pathogen transmission in healthcare setting, the under use of COVID oral antiviral and what occurs in persistently SARS-CoV-2 infected cells in culture after antiviral treatment, continues to dispel the myth of viral rebound, how to pay for paxlovid, when to use steroids and the benefits of convalescent plasma, how inflammatory markers change correlate with death when in ICU and if cognitive slowing is part of long COVID-19.
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email
Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode

Do you want a job in healthcare? (JAMA)

Respiratory  disease surveillance (CDC)

RSV surveillance (CDC)

RSV national trend (CDC)

Efficacy and safety of RSV vaccine after 2 seasons (CID)

High vs moderate dose of quadrivalent influenza vaccine (CMI)

Influenza/flu surveillance  (CDC)

Influenza/flu map (CDC)

COVID-19  hospital admissions (CDC)

COVID-19 national trend (CDC)

COVID-19 wastewater testing (biobot)

Variant tracker (CDC)

Variant hospital admissions (CDC)

WHO COVID guidance (WHO)

Thoughts on COVID guidance (CIDRAP)

Update on how to prevent pathogen transmission in healthcare settings (CDC)

Underuse of antiviral drugs against COVID-19 (MMWR)

Revisiting tissue culture cells persistently infected following antiviral therapy (bioRxiv)

To rebound or to not rebound (MMWR)

Know your COVID-19 tools (ESMED)

How to pay for Paxlovid (PAXCESS)

Molnupiravir safety and efficacy (JMV)

Convalescent plasma recommendation for immunocompromised (IDSociety)

Steroids,dexamethasone at the right time (OFID)

Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org)

Changes in inflammatory markers and death correlation when in ICU (Cytokine)

Long COVID & cognitive slowing? (eClinicalMedicine)

Contribute to our ASTMH fundraiser at PWB

Letters read on TWiV 1084

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]
...more
45min
January 28, 2024TWiV 1980: AI builds better viruses
TWiV reviews global measles outbreaks, toilet-generated aerosols that spread viruses, highly effective prevention of invasive cervical cancer by HPV vaccination, and design of improved adenovirus-associated viral vectors using machine learning.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

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

Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode

MicrobeTV Discord Server

MicrobeTV store at Cafepress

Become a member of ASV (asv.org)

Research assistant position in Rosenfeld Lab CBER/FDA (pdf)

The New City by Dickson Despommier

Jay Nelson obituary

Measles outbreak in Europe and Central Asia (UNICEF)

Closing the toilet lid doesn’t reduce virus aerosols (Am J Inf Control)

NASA’s ingenuity helicopter mission ends (NASA)

HPV vaccine prevents invasive cervical cancer (J NCI)

Designing AAV vectors with machine learning (Sci Adv)

Letters read on TWiV 1083

Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks
Dickson – Asian girl building a life building a fence to protect a bamboo house Rich – Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades by Rebecca Renner Alan – Strange Bedfellows, by Ina Park Vincent – Star and Sphere kit – try the main page too

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]
...more
1h 41min
January 27, 2024TWiV 1082: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin
In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin reviews most recent statistics on the circulation of respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 virus, including all circulating variants in the US, before discussing viral transmission to adults in healthcare setting, the recently EUA approved protein based COBREVAX vaccine, reviews quarantine guidelines, the use of simnotrelivr for mild to moderate COVID-19, how viral RNA may persist in your cell culture dish following antiviral therapy, continues to dispel the myth of viral rebound, how to pay for Paxlovid, , when to use steroids and the benefits of convalescent plasma, how Paxlovid may prevent long COVID and how complement dysfunction may lead to thromboinflammation during long COVID.

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

Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode

Articles and graphs cited in TWIV CU 1080

Respiratory  disease surveillance (CDC)

RSV surveillance (CDC)

RSV national trend (CDC)

Influenza/flu surveillance  (CDC)

Influenza/flu map (CDC)

COVID-19  hospital admissions (CDC)

COVID-19 national trend (CDC)

COVID-19 wastewater testing (biobot)

Variant tracker (CDC)

Variant hospital admissions (CDC)

Transmission in healthcare setting (CID)

COBREVAX EUA (Texas Children’s Hospital)

Quarantine/isolation guidelines (CDC)

Simnotrelvir for mild to moderate disease in adults (NEJM)

Are your tissue culture cells persistently infected following antiviral therapy (bioRxiv)

Structural biology of antivirals for SARS-CoV-2 (Signal Tranduction and Targeted Therapy)

To rebound or to not rebound (MMWR)

Know your COVID-19 tools (ESMED)

How to pay for Paxlovid (PAXCESS)

Remdesivir for immunocompromised during variant waves (CID)

Molnupiravir safety and efficacy (JMV)

Convalescent plasma recommendation for immunocompromised (IDSociety)

Steroids,dexamethasone at the right time (OFID)

Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org)

Patients, experts, Congress…..long COVID oh my! (CIDRAP)

Does paxlovid prevent long COVID? (CIDRAP) Persistent complement with thromboinflammation in long COVID (Science)

Contribute to our MicrobeTV fundraiser at PWB

Letters read on TWiV 1082

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]
...more
55min

FAQs about This Week in Virology:

How many episodes does This Week in Virology have?

The podcast currently has 948 episodes available.