This Week in Virology

In COVID-19 clinical update #100, Daniel Griffin, from Accra, Ghana, reviews the challenges in evaluating Omicron severity, over 800 deaths in children, Pfizer vaccine EUA application for under 5 year olds, false positives from soft drinks, Novavax vaccine EUA application, childhood experiences and vaccine hesitancy, fourth vaccine dose in Israel, effects of antivirals and monoclonals against Omicron, and multiple factors associated with PASC. Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Omicron severity challenges (NEJM) Children and COVID data (AAP) Vaccine EUA for under 5 year olds (Pfizer) B cell boot camp (Immune 52) Soft drink and LFA false positives (medRxiv) EUA application for Novavax vaccine (Novavax) Childhood experiences and vaccine hesitancy (BMJ Open) Fourth vaccine dose in Israel (medRxiv) Antibodies and antivirals vs Omicron (NEJM) Paxlovid and Omicron (Pfizer) Multiple factors and PASC (Cell) Internship at Parasites Without Borders (pdf) 28:47 Letters read on TWiV 862 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

Nels joins TWiV to discuss hypotheses for the origins of Omicron, including that it came from mice or arose during chronic infection of an immunocompromised patient. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Guest: Nels Elde Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Vaccine Town Hall (ASV) Columbia University BSL-3 Manager position Did Omicron come from mice? (J Genet Genomics) Persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection (SSRN) Letters read on TWiV 861 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – Groundhogs Emerge From the Scientific Shadows Kathy – Zig-zag Coast Guard search pattern Rich – Moon Phases 2022 (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) Vincent – Kevin Cowtan's Book of Fourier and Live Fourier Transformation Nels – Biology versus bias Listener Picks Dusty – Fighting bias in space Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV reviews a seminal paper showing that chemically modified bases in RNAs suppress recognition by Toll-like receptors, a finding that that was essential for the development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Vaccine Town Hall (ASV) Columbia University BSL-3 Manager position RNA modifications suppress innate recognition (Immunity) Critical contribution of pseudouridine (Front Cell Dev Biol) Rich Condit reminisces (YouTube) Letters read on TWiV 860 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson - NASA Research Launches a New Generation of Indoor Farming Kathy -How Pfizer scientists transformed an old drug lead into a COVID-19 antiviral Rich - Fermi paradox Vincent - Racism not Race by Joe Graves Listener Picks Jay – Restoration of Ave Maria John – Pandemic humor Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In COVID-19 clinical update #99, Daniel Griffin discusses Omicron disease severity, neurologic manifestations in children, testing outcomes during multiple infections, boosters improve VE and VD, booster efficacy for ED and UC encounters, vaccines induce cross-protective T cell memory, and indications for monoclonal antibody therapy.C Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Omicron disease severity (MMWR) Neurologic manifestations in children (Pediatric Neurol) Respiratory virus interference (Emerg Inf Dis) Hospitalization by vaccination status (CDC) Third vaccine dose VE (MMWR) Vaccination induces cross-reactive T cells (Cell) Limitations for monoclonal antibody use for Omicron (FDA) Internship at Parasites Without Borders (pdf) 42:40 Letters read on TWiV 859 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

John Mascola joins TWiV to discuss the history and mission of the NIH Vaccine Research Center, how it prepared for devising pandemic vaccines, and development of the COVID-19 vaccines. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker Guest: John Mascola Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Accelerated COVID-19 vaccine development (Immunity) Letters read on TWiV 858 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – How Sesame Street is Handling the Pandemic Rich – Zamboni: How it works Alan – How lightning starts Vincent – Buon-A-Petitti Listener Picks Meika –Wordle Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

Jon Yewdell returns to TWiV to discuss how antibodies are made, vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, antigenic variation of the virus, booster shots, and more. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker Guest: Jon Yewdell Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Jon Yewdell on TWiV 208, 467, 597, 620 Letters read on TWiV 857 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Jon – The Premonition by Michael Lewis Dickson – Nature photographer of the year 2021 Brianne – Should BioBank Volunteers Be Warned About Mutations? Rich – Czech singer Hanka Horká dies after intentionally getting infected by the coronavirusand Dena Dietrich Dies at 91 Vincent – Cuore di Cioccolato Listener Picks Bronwen – Schools must stay open John – Pandemic humor Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In COVID-19 clinical update #98, Daniel Griffin reviews COVID-19 in South Africa, recognition of Omicron by ancestral T cells, booster effectiveness against disease, infection and vaccination in pregnant women, early Remdesivir to prevent progression to severe disease, management of hospitalized adults, Tocilizumab in hospitalized patients, vaccination and long COVID, and the true toll of the pandemic. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 853 (58 MB .mp3, 48 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode COVID-19 in South Africa (pdf) Ancestral T cells recognize Omicron (Nat Med) Booster effectiveness against COVID-19, England (Nat Med) Cases and hospitalization by vaccination status (MMWR) Infection and vaccination in pregnant women, Scotland (Nat Med) Early Remdesivir to prevent progression to severe disease (NEJM) Management of hospitalized adults (NIH) Tocilizumab in hospitalized patients (Resp Care) Vaccination and long COVID in Israel (medRxiv) Pandemic true death toll (Nature) Internship at Parasites Without Borders (pdf) Letters read on TWiV 856 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

Alessandro Sette returns to TWiV to discuss the observation that SARS-CoV-2 vaccination induces T cells that are able to cross-recognize variants Alpha to Omicron. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Guest: Alessandro Sette Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Travel Award Applications (ASV) 3:20 Impact of variants on T cells (Cell Rep Med) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Letters read on TWiV 855 Weekly Picks Brianne – 75 years of research on human diseases in 1 minute Kathy – 10 second video of COVID-19 spread Rich – Diffraction spike Vincent – John's Furniture Repair and Transcend Furniture Gallery Listener Picks Alison – FDA drug shortages Ingrid – One woman's mission to get vaccines to her rural Alabama town Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV reviews findings that increased fitness of the Omicron variant is due to immune evasion, not an increase in intrinsic transmissibility, and determination of infectious viral load in patients infected with wild type, Delta and Omicron viruses reveals lack of correlation with RNA loads determined by RT-PCR, similar levels of shedding among Delta and Omicron, and greatly reduced shedding in vaccinated people. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Travel Award Applications (ASV) 2:11 Omicron transmission in Danish households (medRxiv) Infectious viral load in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients (medRxiv) Fred Murphy on TWiV 625 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson – Favorite Science Photos of 2021 Brianne – Viruses, Vaccines, and COVID-19 videos from American Museum of Natural History Kathy – Klompas et al. "Current insights into respiratory virus transmission…" Rich – Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey Vincent – Ebola (1996) by David Molesky at The Incubator Listener Picks Randall – Robert Malone & Peter McCullough: A litany of untruths Suellen – Omicron and the case of the hidden evolution – Understanding Evolution Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In COVID-19 clinical update #97, Daniel Griffin covers immunity after infection recognized by CDC, outcomes before and after Omicron, infectious viral load in Delta vs Omicron, PCR vs rapid antigen tests, booster interval shortened to 5 months, risk factors for severe outcomes in vaccinated, cross-reactive memory T cells, vaccine effectiveness vs MIS-C, and Rivaroxiban for thromboprophylaxis. Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Quarantine and isolation (CDC) Outcomes before and after Omicron (medRxiv) Infectious viral load in Delta vs Omicron infections (medRxiv) PCR vs rapid antigen test (medRxiv) Booster interval to 5 months (FDA) Cross-reactive memory T cells (Nat Comm) Risk factors for severe outcomes in vaccinated (MMWR) Vaccine effectiveness vs MIS-C (MMWR) Cross-reactive T cells to Omicron from vaccines (medRxiv) Rivaroxiban for thromboprophylaxis (Lancet) Letters read on TWiV 853 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv