TWiV 1214: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin
This Week in Virology
Navigating COVID-19 Vaccine Challenges
This chapter explores the complexities surrounding COVID-19 vaccination efforts, particularly focusing on the Novavax vaccine. It raises critical issues such as political interference in the approval process, misinformation about vaccine efficacy, and public awareness of emerging health concerns. Additionally, the chapter analyzes treatment strategies for severe COVID-19, including the impact of tocilizumab and IVIG on patient outcomes.
In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin with Vincent Racaniello bewail the attack on science within the US and withdrawal from the global health communities, association between the shingles vaccine and reduced dementia occurrence, ending of Uganda’s ebola outbreak, undermining effective responses to human bird flu infections, growing measles outbreak in the US and dire predictions of the return of vaccine preventable diseases including polio if vaccination rates continue to decline, before Dr. Griffin reviews recent statistics on RSV, influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infections the WasterwaterScan dashboard, how HHS is undermining the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, if Paxlovid reduces stroke, where to find PEMGARDA, provides information for Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s long COVID treatment center, where to go for answers to your long COVID questions and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.
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Links for this episode- Lab animal RIFFing (NY Times)
- Herpes zoster vaccination and dementia occurrence(JAMA)
- The recombinant shingles vaccine is associated with lower risk of dementia (Nature Medicine)
- Uganda declares end to latest ebola outbreak (Reuters)
- Enhancing the response to avian influenza in the US and globally (LANCET: Regional Health-Americas)
- H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation (CDC: Avian Influenza Bird flu)
- Measles Update — United States, January 1–April 17, 2025 (CDC: MMWR)
- Measles in Europe……..but greater in the US (CIDRAP)
- Measles – Annual Epidemiological Report for 2024 (ECDC: European Center for Disease Prevention and Control)
- Measles (ECDC: European Center for Disease Prevention and Control)
- Measles cases and outbreaks (CDC Rubeola)
- Measles 800 in Texas…. (Texas Health and Human Services)
- 2025 Measles outbreak guidance (New Mexico Health)
- On the precipice of disaster’: Measles may be endemic in 25 years if vaccine uptake stays low, model predicts (CIDRAP)
- Modeling Reemergence of Vaccine-Eliminated Infectious Diseases Under Declining Vaccination in the US (JAMA)
- Measles vaccine recommendations from NYP (jpg)
- Get the FACTS about measles (NY State Department of Health)
- Measles (CDC Measles (Rubeola))
- Measles vaccine (CDC Measles (Rubeola))
- Presumptive evidence of measles immunity (CDC)
- Contraindications and precautions to measles vaccination (CDC)
- Measles (CDC Measles (Rubeola))
- Measles (CDC: Measles Rubeola)
- Adverse events associated with childhood vaccines: evidence bearing on causality (NLM)
- Measles Vaccination: Know the Facts(ISDA: Infectious Diseases Society of America)
- Deaths following vaccination: what does the evidence show (Vaccine)
- Influenza: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
- US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
- Weekly surveillance report: clift notes (CDC FluView)
- Respiratory virus activity levels (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
- 200 children die from flu (CIDRAP)
- Weekly surveillance report: clift notes (CDC FluView)
- FDA-CDC-DOD: 2025-2046 influenza vaccine composition (FDA)
- RSV: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
- US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
- RSV-Network (CDC Respiratory Syncytial virus Infection)
- Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
- COVID-19 deaths (CDC)
- COVID-19 national and regional trends (CDC)
- COVID-19 variant tracker (CDC)
- SARS-CoV-2 genomes galore (Nextstrain)
- Health secretary RFK Jr. declares certain vaccines have ‘never worked,’ flummoxing scientists…..what certain vaccines?(STAT News)
- More FDA uncertainty roils full approval for Novavax COVID vaccine (CIDRAP)
- FDA Punts on Major Covid-19 Vaccine Decision After Ouster of Top Official (WSJ)
- U.S. health officials inject new uncertainty into approval process for Covid boosters (STAT News)
- Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines in the United States (CDC: COVID-19)
- Where to get pemgarda (Pemgarda)
- EUA for the pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 (INVIYD)
- Infusion center (Prime Fusions)
- CDC Quarantine guidelines (CDC)
- NIH COVID-19 treatment guidelines (NIH)
- Drug interaction checker (University of Liverpool)
- Infectious Disease Society guidelines for treatment and management (ID Society)
- 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)
- Into the Unknown: Practical Remdesivir Restriction in the Era of Widespread SARS-CoV-2 Seropositivity (CID)
- Tocilizumab and IVIG experience during the service follow-up in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia(Rev Insti MedTrop Sao Paulo)
- Daniel Griffin’s evidence based medical practices for long COVID (OFID)
- Long COVID hotline (Columbia : Columbia University Irving Medical Center)
- The answers: Long COVID
- Risk of New-Onset Type 2 Diabetes Among Vaccinated Adults After Omicron or Delta Variant SARS-CoV-2 Infection(JAMA) Reaching out to US house representative
- Letters read on TWiV 1214
- Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf)
- Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees
Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv
Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.
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