This Week in Virology

Katherine joins TWiV to discuss her career in science writing, from not liking science at all, to a PhD in microbiology and immunology, and writing for Nova, the NY Times, and The Atlantic, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted her craft. Host: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Guest: Katherine Wu Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server All Katherine’s articles at The Atlantic Vaccines still blocking severe disease (The Atlantic) Calling Omicron mild is wishful thinking (The Atlantic) Tattoos do odd things to the immune system (The Atlantic) The Story Collider Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne- Maropeng caves and Finding Homo naledi Kathy – Being Mary Tyler Moore Vincent – Google Isn’t Grad School Listener Picks John – A new study found people are terrible at sitting alone with their thoughts. Alan – What if all viruses vanished? Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses autochthonous leprosy in the United States, a systematic review to identify novel clinical characteristics of Mpox virus infection and therapeutic and preventive strategies to combat the virus, two-year duration of immunity of inactivated poliovirus vaccine, evaluation of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 SIA impact in a large outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus in Nigeria, performance of rapid antigen tests to detect symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection, effectiveness of the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine, oral Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir for COVID-19 in vaccinated, non-hospitalized adults ages 18-50 years, genome-wide association study of long COVID, vaccination ameliorates cellular inflammatory responses in SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections, and high incidence of autonomic dysfunction and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome in patients with long-COVID. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Autochthonous leprosy in the United States (NEJM) Systematic review to identify novel clinical characteristics of Monkeypox (Archives of Virology) Two-year duration of immunity of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (JID) Evaluation of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 SIA impact in a outbreak of vaccine-derived poliovirus in Nigeria (IDSA) Performance of rapid antigen tests to detect symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2  (AIM) Effectiveness of the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine (OFID) Oral Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir for COVID-19 in vaccinated, non-hospitalized adults (CID) Genome-wide association study of long COVID (medRxiv) Vaccination ameliorates cellular inflammatory responses in SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections (JID) High incidence of autonomic dysfunction and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome in patients with long-COVID (AJM) Contribute to our FIMRC fundraiser at PWB Letters read on TWiV 1022 Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

From ASV 2023 in Athens, Georgia, Vincent, Kathy and Brianne speak with Trevord Bedford about his career, the development of Nextstrain.org for real-time tracking of pathogen evolution, and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 from January 2020 through Omicron. Host: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Guest: Trevor Bedford Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server Nextstrain Household influenza testing (Influenza Other Resp Viruses) SARS-CoV-2 outbreak Washington (Sci Transl Med) SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, Washington (Emerg Inf Dis) S1 changes drive SARS-CoV-2 clade success (Cell Host Micro) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses guidance on measles during the summer travel season, the Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines on the diagnosis of COVID-19: antigen testing, SARS-CoV-2 variants and age-dependent infection rates among household and nonhousehold contacts, effect of COVID-19 vaccination on household transmission of SARS-COV-2 in the Omicron era, incidence of myopericarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, intrinsic and effective severity of COVID-19 cases infected with the ancestral strain and Omicron BA.2 variant in Hong Kong, safety, immunogenicity and protection of heterologous boost with an aerosolized Ad5-nCoV after two-dose inactivated COVID-19 vaccines in adults, awake prone positioning for non-intubated patients with COVID-19-related acute hypoxic respiratory failure, melatonin effects on sleep quality of COVID-19 patients, female reproductive health impacts of Long COVID and associated illnesses including ME/CFS, POTS, and connective tissue disorders, and incident autoimmune diseases in association with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Guidance on measles during the summer travel season (CDC) Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines on the diagnosis of COVID-19 (CID) SARS-CoV-2 variants and infection rates among household and nonhousehold contacts (CDC) Effect of COVID-19 vaccination on household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the Omicron era (IJID) Incidence of myopericarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (Science Direct) Intrinsic and effective severity of COVID-19 cases infected with the ancestral strain and Omicron BA.2 variant (JID) Safety, immunogenicity and protection of heterologous boost with Ad5-nCoV after two-dose inactivated COVID-19 vaccines (The Lancet) Awake prone positioning for non-intubated patients with COVID-19-related acute hypoxic respiratory failure (BMC) Melatonin effects on sleep quality of COVID-19 patients (BMJ) Female reproductive health impacts of Long COVID and associated illnesses (FRS) Incident autoimmune diseases in association with SARS-CoV-2 infection (CR) Contribute to our FIMRC fundraiser at PWB Letters read on TWiV 1020 Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

From ASM Microbe in Houston, Texas, Vincent speaks with Eddie Holmes about the evidence that SARS-CoV-2 spilled over into humans in the Huanan Market in Wuhan, absence of evidence for other origins, and his work on the virosphere. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: Eddie Holmes Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server Huanan Seafood Market early COVID-19 epicenter (Science) SARSr-CoV-2 in Malayan Pangolins (PLoS Path) Zoonotic risk of farmed animals (Cell) Virusea at bat-tick interface (Microb Genom) Influenza H3N8 virus in southern China (J Virol) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses the CDC vaccine advisory group recommending the newly approved RSV vaccines, association of culturable-virus detection and household transmission of SARS-CoV-2, prevention of COVID-19 following a single intramuscular administration of Adintrevimab, real-world effectiveness of Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir on COVID-19, and COVID-19 convalescent plasma outpatient therapy to prevent outpatient hospitalization. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode CDC vaccine advisory group recommends RSV vaccines Association of culturable-virus detection and household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (JID) Prevention of COVID-19 following intramuscular administration of Adintrevimab (OFID) Real-world effectiveness of Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir on COVID-19 (CID) COVID-19 convalescent plasma outpatient therapy to prevent hospitalization (CID) Contribute to our FIMRC fundraiser at PWB Letters read on TWiV 1018 Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

Vincent travels to the University of Pennsylvania to meet up with Susan, Rick, Gigi and David to discuss the origin of SARS-CoV-2, how the FBI might have reached its conclusion on the matter, and public and political perception of scientific risk. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guests: Susan Weiss, Rick Bushman, Gigi Gronvall, and David Joanson Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server Huanan Seafood Market early COVID-19 epicenter (Science) Spillover market with Michael Worobey (TWiV 876) Unclassified intelligence on SARS-CoV-2 origins (IC) Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 (Foreign Policy) COVID-19 not from lab leak (Globe and Mail) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses surveillance to track progress toward poliomyelitis eradication, genetic stabilization of attenuated oral vaccines against poliovirus types 1 and 3, evaluation of Oseltamivir used to prevent hospitalization in outpatients with Influenza, viral emissions into the air and environment after SARS-CoV-2 human challenge, has COVID-19 threatened routine childhood vaccination, successful treatment of persistent symptomatic COVID-19 infection with extended duration Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir, anemia as a risk factor for disease progression in patients admitted for COVID-19, impact of fatigue as the primary determinant of functional limitations among patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome, post-COVID condition in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases, outpatient treatment of COVID-19 and incidence of post-COVID-19 condition over 10 months, metformin reduces SARS-CoV-2 in a Phase 3 randomized placebo controlled clinical trial, persistent serum protein signatures define an inflammatory subcategory of long COVID, and the relevance of pacing strategies in managing symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Surveillance to track progress toward poliomyelitis eradication (CDC) Genetic stabilization of attenuated oral vaccines against poliovirus types 1 and 3 (Nature) Evaluation of Oseltamivir to prevent hospitalization in outpatients with Influenza (JAMA) Viral emissions into air and environment after SARS-CoV-2 human challenge (The Lancet) Has COVID-19 threatened routine childhood vaccination (Health Affairs) Successful treatment of COVID-19 with extended duration Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (OFID) Anemia as a risk factor for disease progression in patients admitted for COVID-19 (Nature) Impact of fatigue as the determinant of functional limitations among patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome (BMJ) Post-COVID condition in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (The Lancet) Outpatient treatment of COVID-19 and incidence of post-COVID-19 condition (The Lancet) Metformin reduces SARS-CoV-2 in a Phase 3 placebo controlled clinical trial (MedRxiv) Persistent serum protein define an inflammatory subcategory of long COVID (Nature) Relevance of pacing strategies in managing symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome (JTM) Contribute to our FIMRC fundraiser at PWB Letters read on TWiV 1016 Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

Vincent and Rich travel to Ft. Detrick to visit USAMRIID and speak with Todd, Crystal, John and Jay about their careers, their research, and the mission of the US Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases. Host: Vincent Racaniello and Rich Condit Guests: Todd Bell, Crystal Burke, John Dye, and Jay Hooper Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the panelists and no official endorsement by the U.S. Army should be inferred. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server USAMRIID Mpox virus in testes of nonhuman primates (Nat Micro) Efficacy of equine encephalitis virus-like particle vaccine (Viruses) Prophylaxis with SARS-CoV-2 mAb (Antimicrob Agents Chemother) Needle-free jet injection of DNA vaccine (PLoS One) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses estimates of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and incidence of primary SARS-CoV-2 infections among blood donors, by COVID-19 vaccination status, smart thermometer–based participatory surveillance to discern the role of children in household viral transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 vaccine mandates, changing severity and epidemiology of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States after introduction of COVID-19 vaccines, effectiveness of COVID-19 treatment with Nirmatrelvir–Ritonavir or Molnupiravir among U.S. veterans, national trends in anticoagulation therapy for COVID-19 hospitalized adults in the United States, development of a definition of postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, neuroinflammation after COVID-19 with persistent depressive and cognitive symptoms, long COVID clinical phenotypes up to six months after infection identified by latent class analysis of self-reported symptoms, and coronary microvascular health in symptomatic patients with prior COVID-19 infection. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Estimates of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and incidence of infections among blood donors, by vaccination status (CDC) Smart thermometer–based surveillance to discern the role of children in household viral transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic (JAMA) COVID-19 vaccine mandates (GOV) Changing epidemiology of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 after introduction of vaccines (CID) Effectiveness of COVID-19 treatment with Nirmatrelvir–Ritonavir or Molnupiravir among U.S. Veterans (ACP Journals) National trends in Anticoagulation therapy for COVID-19 (IDSA) Development of a definition of postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (JAMA) Neuroinflammation after COVID-19 with depressive and cognitive symptoms (JAMA) Long COVID clinical phenotypes up to six months after infection identified by latent class analysis of self-reported symptoms (OFID) Coronary microvascular health in patients with prior COVID-19 infection (EACVI) Contribute to our FIMRC fundraiser at PWB Letters read on TWiV 1014 Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV reviews remarkable changes in the epidemiology of avian H5N1 influenza virus leading to previously uninfected areas, involvement of previously unaffected wild birds, and devastating outbreaks in farmed poultry, and isolation of a monoclonal antibody against the influenza virus neuraminidase that inhibits infection with a wide range of A and B isolates. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Angela Mingarelli Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Register for ASV 2023 Research assistant position at FDA (pdf) MicrobeTV Discord Server Avian influenza H5N1 (Eurosurveillance) Pan-influenza NA antibody (Nature) World Animal Health Information System Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Angela – May’s best science images – Nature Kathy – Historical reasons for resistance to recognizing airborne transmission Rich – Scan of Titanic reveals wreck as never seen before – BBC News Alan – Science Education in an Age of Misinformation Vincent – Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: When communication all changed Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses the potential for recurrent Mpox outbreaks among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, association between SARS-CoV-2 variants and frequency of acute symptoms, prospective study of key correlates for household transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Pfizer’s PAXLOVID™ receiving FDA approval for adult patients at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19, efficacy and safety of antimicrobial stewardship prospective audit and feedback in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, development of a definition of postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 and risk for mental disorders among adults in Denmark, risk of new post-COVID mental disorders higher only in older patients. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Potential for recurrent Mpox outbreaks among men who have sex with men (CDC) Association between SARS-CoV-2 variants and frequency of acute symptoms (OFID) Key correlates for household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (OFID) PAXLOVID receiving FDA approval for patients at high risk of severe COVID-19 (Pfizer) Efficacy and safety of antimicrobial stewardship prospective audit and feedback in patients with COVID-19 (The Lancet) Development of a definition of postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (JAMA) COVID-19 and risk for mental disorders among adults in Denmark (JAMA) Risk of new post-COVID mental disorders higher only in older patients (CIDRAP) Contribute to our FIMRC fundraiser at PWB Letters read on TWiV 1012 Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

Vincent travels to Québec City, Canada and the 11th Aquatic Virus Workshop, where he speaks with Fred Aylward and Jed Furman about the research of their laboratories on the ecology and evolution of aquatic viruses and their microbial communities. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guests: Frank Aylward and Jed Fuhrman Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server 11th Aquatic Virus Workshop Endogenization of giant virus genomes in green algae (Nature) Red Queen dynamics in marine viruses (Nature) Biogeography of marine giant viruses (ISME Commun) Marine prokaryotic community structure (Nat Commun) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses the CDC HIV surveillance report, FDA voted in favor of approving the Abrysvo vaccine, canine olfactory detection of SARS-CoV-2-infected humans, safety of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 5 to 17 years, and statement on the antigen composition of COVID-19 vaccines. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode HIV surveillance report (CDC) FDA voted in favor of approving Abrysvo vaccine (Pfizer) Canine olfactory detection of SARS-CoV-2-infected humans (Annals of Epidemiology) Safety of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine in children (JAMA) Statement on the antigen composition of COVID-19 vaccines (WHO) Contribute to our FIMRC fundraiser at PWB Letters read on TWiV 1010 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

Vincent travels to Montreux, Switzerland and the 16th International Nidovirus Symposium, where he speaks with Maria von Kerkhove, the face of COVID-19 for the World Health Organization, and Kanta Subbarao, Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Influenza in Melbourne. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guests: Kanta Subbarao and Maria von Kerkhove Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server Nidovirus Symposium, Montreux WHO Collaborating Centre for Influenza, Melbourne Maria von Kerkhove (Wikipedia) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv