TWiV 1274: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

Nov 29, 2025

Dr. Griffin and Vincent Racaniello tackle pressing public health issues, including a new CDC deputy with controversial views on vaccines. They discuss the alarming rise in whooping cough cases that led to tragic child deaths and the Marburg virus outbreak in Ethiopia. The conversation also covers novel oral polio vaccine trials and the surge of measles in the U.S. Listeners learn about the effectiveness of different flu vaccines and the latest on RSV trends and long COVID, all underscoring the intersection of politics and science in health.

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INSIGHT

Leadership Shapes Outbreak Response

Public health leadership matters because anti-science appointees can undermine outbreak response and vaccination efforts.
Daniel Griffin warns that appointing critics of vaccines to CDC leadership risks worsening preventable disease outcomes.

INSIGHT

Pertussis Resurgence Risks Infants

Whooping cough is resurging with thousands of cases and multiple infant deaths this year in the U.S.
Daniel Griffin emphasizes that declining childhood vaccination coverage directly increases infant risk.

INSIGHT

HPV Vaccine Dramatically Cuts Cancer Risk

Large Cochrane evidence shows HPV vaccination strongly reduces cervical cancer and high-grade lesions and is safe.
Vincent Racaniello and Daniel Griffin highlight that widespread HPV uptake can nearly eliminate cervical cancer.

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In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin and Vincent Racaniello wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and then decry appointment of the Louisiana State surgeon general as deputy chief of the CDC, the 3 children's deaths during this fall's pertussis outbreak, the Marburg virus outbreak in Ethiopia, results of the phase 1 safety trial for the novel poliovirus vaccines nOPV1 and nOPV3, and the first human death from H5N5 influenza virus infection in the US this fall, before Dr. Griffin deep dives into recent statistics on the measles epidemic, RSV, influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infections, the Wasterwater Scan dashboard, Johns Hopkins measles tracker, effectiveness of the cell or egg based flu or the mRNA vaccines, immunogenicity and efficacy of updated COVID-19 vaccines, where to find PEMGARDA, how to access and pay for Paxlovid, long COVID treatment center, where to go for answers to your long COVID questions, immune and cognitive dysfunction during long COVID and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.

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Links for this episode

Anti-science Movement: Deputy director of CDC (X:Louisiana Office of the Surgeon General)
CDC's new deputy director is vocal critic of vaccines, advocated for ivermectin (CIDRAP)
Whooping cough cases on the rise in Texas (FOX4: KDFW)
Third infant in Kentucky dies of whooping cough as national cases stay high for second year in a row (CIDRAP)
More than 25,000 whooping cough cases reported this year as Kentucky records 3rd infant death (ABC News)
Vaccination Coverage and Exemptions among Kindergartners (CDC: SchoolVaxView)
Effects of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programmes on community rates of HPV‐related disease and harms from vaccination (Cochrane Library)
Marburg Outbreak in Ethiopia: Current Situation (CDC: Marburg Virus Disease)
Safety and immunogenicity of novel live attenuated type 1 and type 3 oral poliomyelitis vaccines in healthy adults in the USA: a first-in-human, observer-masked, multicentre, phase 1 randomised controlled trial (LANCET: Infectious Diseases)
Washington state resident believed to be the first to die from a rare strain of bird flu (AP News)
Wastewater for measles (WasterWater Scan)
Measles cases and outbreaks (CDC Rubeola)
Tracking Measles Cases in the U.S. (Johns Hopkins)
Measles vaccine recommendations from NYP (jpg)
Weekly measles and rubella monitoring (Government of Canada)
Measles (WHO)
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)
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)
Respiratory virus activity levels (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
Weekly surveillance report: clift notes (CDC FluView)
Superior Effectiveness and Estimated Public Health Impact of Cell- Versus Egg-Based Influenza Vaccines in Children and Adults During the US 2023–2024 Season (Infectious Diseases and Therapy)
Efficacy, Immunogenicity, and Safety of Modified mRNA Influenza Vaccine(NEJM)
ACIP Recommendations Summary (CDC: Influenza)
Types of Influenza Viruses (CDC: Influenza (flu))
Influenza Vaccine Composition for the 2025-2026 U.S. Influenza Season (FDA)
RSV: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
Respiratory Diseases (Yale School of Public Health)
US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
RSV-Network (CDC Respiratory Syncytial virus Infection)
Vaccines for Adults (CDC: Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV))
Economic Analysis of Protein Subunit and mRNA RSV Vaccination in Adults aged 50-59 Years (CDC: ACIP)
Estimating Risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in US Medicare-Enrolled Older Adults Following Medically Attended Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease (CID)
FDA Requires Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) Warning in the Prescribing Information for RSV Vaccines Abrysvo and Arexvy: FDA Safety Communication (FDA)
Brag Sets Off a Chain Reaction — Dr. Oz Takes the Bait, But Fumbles the Math, and Starts Unraveling Mid-Interview (Atlanta BlackStar)
Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
COVID-19 deaths (CDC)
Respiratory Illnesses Data Channel (CDC: Respiratory Illnesses)
COVID-19 national and regional trends (CDC)
COVID-19 variant tracker (CDC)
SARS-CoV-2 genomes galore (Nextstrain)
Antigenic and Virological Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Variant BA.3.2, XFG, and NB.1.8.1 (bioRxiV)
Effectiveness of the BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 JN.1-adapted vaccines against COVID-19-associated hospitalisation and death: a Danish, nationwide, register-based, cohort study (LANCET: Infectious Diseases)
Immunogenicity of JN.1- and KP.2-Encoding mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Against JN.1 Subvariants in Adult Participants (OFID)
SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and myositis in Norway and Sweden (Rheumatology)
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)
Help your eligible patients access PAXLOVID with the PAXCESS Patient Support Program (Pfizer Pro)
Understanding Coverage Options (PAXCESS)
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)
Managing healthcare staffing shortages (CDC)
Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org)
Daniel Griffin's evidence based medical practices for long COVID (OFID)
Long COVID hotline (Columbia : Columbia University Irving Medical Center)
The answers: Long COVID
Digitally Assessed Long COVID Symptomatology Is Associated With Lymphocyte Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Altered Immune Potential (OFID)
Evaluation of Interventions for Cognitive Symptoms in Long COVID (JAMA Neurology)
Reaching out to US house representative
Letters read on TWiV 1274
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.