This Week in Virology

In COVID-19 clinical update #68, Daniel Griffin discusses children acquiring infection at birthday parties, immunogenicity of vaccines in solid organ transplant patients, reinfection rates in recovered patients, lack of efficacy of azithromycin, bacterial and fungal infections in hospitalized patients, effect of monoclonal antibody treatment on clinical outcomes of ambulatory patients, and reduction in mortality of hospitalized patients treated with remedesivir. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode COVID-19 and birthday parties (JAMA) Vaccines in transplant patients (Ann Int Med) Reinfection of recovered patients (Clin Inf Dis) Azithromycin lack of efficacy (Rev Med Virol) Bacterial and fungal infections in hospitalized patients (Op For Inf Dis) mAb treatment of ambulatory patients (Op For Inf Dis) Remdesivir reduction of mortality (Gilead) Letters read on TWiV 772 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

A TWiV trio reveals the 100 million year old history of bornavirus infections hidden as EVEs in vertebrate genomes, and identification of novel bat coronaviruses that provide evolutionary insight into the origins of SARS-CoV-2. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Amy Rosenfeld Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode ASV Vaccine Town Hall 2:05 100 million year old bornavirus infections (PNAS) Bornaviruses across geological timescales (PNAS) Bornaviruses previously on TWiV 303, 347, 548 Novel bat SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses (Cell) Letters read on TWiV 771 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Amy – A relic from the Jurassic era Alan – World of Wonders, by Aimee Nezhukumatathil Vincent – Tom Buck's YouTube Channel Listener Pick Victor – Vaccines: A measured response Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In COVID-19 clinical update #67, Daniel Griffin reviews antibodies to the virus early in the US, serology testing of blood donations, MIS-C in children under 21, myocarditis in competitive athletes, ER visits for suspected suicide attempts, delta variant in Scotland, Novavax vaccine phase 3 results, vaccine coverage in pregnant women, early monoclonal administration reduces hospitalization and mortality, casirivimab and imdevimab recovery trial results, and CDC guidance on postacute sequelae. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Antiviral antibodies early in US outbreak (CID) Serologic testing of US blood donations (CID) The virus, what went wrong (PBS) MIS-C in children (JAMA) Myocarditis in competitive athletes (JAMA) ER visits for suspected suicide (MMWR) Delta variant in Scotland (Lancet) Novavax phase 3 results (Novavax) Vaccine coverage in pregnant women (MMWR) Early mAb reduces hospitalization and mortality (CID) Regen-Cov trial results (Regeneron) Guidance on postacute sequelae (CDC) Letters read on TWiV 770 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

On this episode of TWiV, Novavax COVID-19 vaccine demonstrates 90% overall efficacy, preventing an antigenically disruptive change during growth of influenza virus vaccine in chicken eggs, and MIS-C is driven by loss of the gut mucosal barrier. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Click arrow to play Download TWiV 769 (68 MB .mp3, 114 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode ASV Vaccine Town Hall 2:05 Novavax vaccine efficacy reported (Novavax) H3N2 glycosylation in eggs (TWiV 480) Preventing antigenically disruptive HA change in eggs (Cell Host Micr) MIS-C due to leaky gut (J Clin Invest) Letters read on TWiV 769 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – Pandemics for Babies, Germ Theory for Babies, and Vaccines for Babies Kathy – Playing with Time Vincent – A Top Virologist in China, at Center of a Pandemic Storm, Speaks Out Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV describes how human behavior, not increased transmissibility, led to increased spread of a SARS-CoV-2 variant throughout Europe in summer 2020, and nanobodies from camelid mice and llamas that efficiently neutralize variants of concern. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode ASV Vaccine Town Hall Spread of SARS-CoV-2 variant in summer 2020 (Nature) Nanobodies neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants (Nature) Letters read on TWiV 768 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson – Hotel Magdalena Brianne – Antibody Song by Raven the Science Maven Alan – How to play Magic: the Gathering Vincent – Steve Gibson's rant on Security Now Listener Pick David – Coronavirus set to mu Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In COVID-19 clinical update #66, Daniel Griffin covers treatment guidelines from IDSA, hospitalization of adolescents, estimating epidemiological dynamics from viral load distributions, incidence of infection according to baseline antibody status, assessment of reinfection in Italy, need for vaccination in previously infected individuals, assessment of protection against reinfection, antimicrobial use in hospitalized patients, effect of single dose ivermectin, and a trial of aspirin in hospitalized patients. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode COVID-19 treatment guidelines (IDSA) Hospitalization of adolescents (MMWR) Estimating dynamics from viral load (Science) Incidence according to antibody status (Lancet) Reinfections in Italy (JAMA) Need for vaccination in previously infected (medRxiv) Assessment of protection against reinfection (ACC) Antimicrobial use in hospitalized patients (Lancet) Effect of single dose ivermectin (Viruses) Aspirin in hospitalized patients (medRxiv) Letters read on TWiV 767 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

David joins TWiV to relate how his near-death experience with Castleman's disease motivated him to found the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory and the CORONA project to identify and track all treatments reported for COVID-19 in an open-source data repository. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Guest: David Fajgenbaum Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode CORONA project Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory Castleman Disease Collaborative Network Chasing My Cure Letters read on TWiV 766 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – How Giraffes Beat High Blood Pressure Kathy – Orangutan optical illusion Vincent – Two quotes from Chasing My Cure by David Fajgenbaum John Paul II: Dear young people, whether you are believers or not, accept the call to be virtuous. This means being strong within, having a big heart, being rich in the highest sentiments, bold in the truth, courageous in freedom, constant in responsibility, generous in love, invincible in hope. David: Never stop questioning and always follow the data. Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV reviews the new nomenclature for SARS-CoV-2 variants, effectiveness of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against variants, modified Moderna vaccine against variants, impact of COVID-19 interventions on influenza in China and the US, and binding of RaTG13 spike protein to ACE2 of multiple species. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Updated nomenclature of SARS-CoV-2 variants (WHO) Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine effective against alpha variants (Lancet) Novavax vaccine effective against beta variants (NEJM) Moderna updated vaccine against beta and gamma variants (medRxiv) Impact of COVID-19 interventions against influenza (Nat Comm) RaTG13 spike binding to various ACE2 proteins (Cell) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson – NASA's Juno to Get a Close Look at Jupiter's Moon Ganymede Brianne – Send in the Bugs. The Michelangelos Need Cleaning. Rich – All landers and rovers on Mars animated in video with human scale Alan – Weird case cluster reported in MMWR 40 years ago; update on disease Vincent – Virus isolates, strains, variants – what are they? Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In COVID-19 clinical update #65, Daniel Griffin summarizes effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions, updated summer camp guidance from CDC, serology testing not recommended by FDA, antigen tests during a music event, inhibition of vaccine immunogenicity by methotrexate, phase 3 trial results for colchicine, and small airway disease as a post-acute sequelae. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Effects of vaccines and NPIs (JAMA) Guidance on summer camps (CDC) Antibody testing not recommended (FDA) Antigen testing at a music event (Lancet) Methotrexate and vaccine immunogenicity (Ann Rheum Dis) Colchicine phase 3 results (Lancet Resp Med) Small airway disease a post-acute sequelae (medRxiv) Letters read on TWiV 764 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV explains how cap-snatching, the priming of viral mRNA synthesis with fragments of host mRNAs, can lead to the synthesis of novel viral proteins. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Cap-snatching makes new ORFs (Cell) Cap-snatching leads to novel proteins (Cell) Letters read on TWiV 763 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Kathy – Flat pasta that turns into shapes here and here Rich – Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart (wiki) Vincent – Martin Beck police mysteries Listener Picks Greg – Stewart Lee on Loch Ness monster Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv