This Week in Virology

TWiV answers listener questions about pandemic response, excess deaths in 25-44 year olds, vaccines, vaccines, and vaccines. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Poems are at Twiverse 2020 US traffic deaths (Car & Driver) National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (HRSA) Jet injector (Wikipedia) Letters read on TWiV 706 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – We Know Almost Nothing About Giant Viruses Rich – The Coccolithophores Project Kathy – v-safe and Vaccine Handbook Vincent – Gorillas at San Diego Zoo infected with SARS-CoV-2 (pdf) Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

Emily Travanty from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment joins TWiV to discuss how her laboratory was the first in the US to detect the SARS-CoV-2 variant VOC 202012/01. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker Guest: Emily Travanty Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode VOC detected in Colorado (WaPo) US has sequenced only 50,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes (CDC) Human CoV evolves to escape immunity (bioRxiv) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson – Randal Despommier on saxophone Brianne – Giant Microbes SARS-CoV2 Alan – West of Loathing Rich – Draft landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines Vincent – SARS-CoV-2 spillover events Listener Pick Daniel – His Vaccine Story Inspired His Father To Write A Disney Classic Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In this COVID-19 clinical update, Daniel Griffin summarizes current status of vaccination in the US, discusses a study on convalescent sera from Argentina, use of remdesivir in patients with kidney disease, and provides further considerations on the use of Ct values in patient management. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Argentine study on plasma therapy (NEJM) Ct values and clinical outcome (Open Forum Inf Dis) Bamlanivimab fact sheet (FDA pdf) Cognitive defects in recovered COVID-19 patients (medRxiv) Letters read on TWiV 704 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

On this episode, a discussion of why modifying the dose schedule of the mRNA vaccines in the US is not a good idea, evidence that lower Ct values on hospital admission is associated with higher mortality, and dose-dependent response to SARS-CoV-2 infection of ferrets. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode BSL-3 Assistant Manager position Follow authorized vaccine dosing schedule (FDA) Mina suggests one vaccine dose (NY Times) UK decision document on vaccine dose (pdf) Ct linked to COVID-19 mortality (Open Forum Inf Dis) Dose-dependent infection of ferrets (Nat Comm) Letters read on TWiV 703 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – Linsey Marr on masks Kathy – Striped Martian Sand Dunes and Rich – How Microwaving Grapes Makes Plasma Vincent – Musings of an anonymous, pissed off virologist Listener Pick Laura – Auld Lang Syne follow-up Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

For this first episode of 2021, the complete TWiV team reviews compelling virology stories of 2020, and thanks the multitude of guests who have helped us to navigate the pandemic, and our many listeners who turn to us for scientific facts. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Poems are at Twiverse This little virus went to market (TWiV 581) Host genetics initiative TWiV 628 Inborn errors of immunity & serious COVID TWiV 671 Lisa Gralinski TWiV 674 Tragic gene flow from Neanderthals TWiV 676 Ivermectin and COVID-19 (TWiV 599) DC and Galveston road trips: TWiV 625, 643, 646, 589, 580, 583, 587) Fauci and Hotez interviews (TWiV 641, 687) Long-haul COVID, pro-thrombotic autoantibodies (TWiV 680, 683) Minority health and disparities (TWiV 655) Diversity in science (TWiV 672, 670) SeXX matters (TWiV 624) Kate Rubins (TWiV 682) Laura Splan (TWiV 691) Protective immune responses (TWiV 693, 685, 683) Immune memory/cross-reactivity (TWiV 684, 681, 650, 631) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson – Best of 2020 by NASA and The Plague Year Brianne – Where Year Two of the Pandemic Will Take Us Alan – Japan's distinct form of vaccine hesitancy Kathy – Paul Offit updates on the vaccine rollout and Choral Scholars of University College Dublin (John Greene's videoessay on the song) Rich – Do You Love Me? Vincent – Story on Katalin Kariko's career Listener Pick Louise – Virus socks Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In Daniel Griffin's final clinical report for 2020, he summarizes what we have learned about the clinical management of COVID-19 patients in the past year. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Attributes and predictors of long COVID-19 (medRxiv) Letters read on TWiV 701 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV reviews additional data on the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2, the distinct variant spreading in South Africa, association of afucosylated antiviral IgG with severe COVID-19, approval of AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK, and winners of the pandemic poem contest. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode BSL-3 Assistant Manager position PHE update #2 (pdf) South African variant (medRxiv) CDC cautious in conclusions on variant Afucosylated IgG and severe COVID-19 (Science) AstraZeneca vaccine EUA in UK (BBC) Letters read on TWiV 700 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – Ready Player Two Kathy – Bert Hubert's Reverse Engineering of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine Rich – Boston Dynamics running robots Vincent – Fever by John Fuller Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

From the 2020 online meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Vincent speaks with Jonathan Auguste, Carol Blair, Desiree LaBeaud, Louis Lambrechts, and Mauricio Nogueira about their careers and their research on arthropod-borne viruses. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guests: Jonathan Auguste, Carol Blair, Desiree LaBeaud, Louis Lambrechts, and Mauricio Nogueira Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode RNAi in arbovirus-vector interactions (Viruses) Arbovirus emergence via bridge vectors (Sci Rep) Rift Valley fever (Trop Med Inf Dis) Flavivirus infection and cerebrovascular events (Viruses) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

Daniel Griffin provides his weekly clinical report on COVID-19, including his own experience with vaccination, guidelines for vaccine distribution, reasons for under-utilization of monoclonal antibody therapy, and much more. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Phased allocation of COVID-19 vaccines (ACIP slides) How CDC is making COVID-19 vaccine recommendations (CDC) Letters read on TWiV 698 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV reviews the latest data on the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2, including some properties of the variant and why it is being closely studied, development of liver cancer in a participant in a adenovirus-associated virus gene therapy trial, and answers to listener questions. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode BSL-3 Assistant Manager position 3:39 NERVTAG meeting minutes (pdf) NERVTAG Preliminary genomic characterization of UK variant (virological.org) PHE investigation of UK variant (pdf) N501Y does not affect antibody neutralization (Science, eLife) WHO notice on UK variant (WHO) Liver tumor during AAV gene therapy (Science) Letters read on TWiV 697 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – EM Rap Podcast COVID update Kathy – Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and Tony Fauci vaccinated Santa Claus Rich – Chicken LIttle (wiki) Vincent – virological.org Listener Pick Greg – Someone who wants to make a difference Uli – XKCD on statistics Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv