This Week in Virology

TWiV 893: Yellow fever virus escapes antibodies

April 24, 2022

Kartik, Denise, and Gorka join TWiV to discuss their finding that changes in the surface glycoprotein of South American yellow fever virus lead to reduced neutralization by antibodies induced by the vaccine, which is derived from an African isolate.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Brianne Barker

Guests: Kartik Chandran, Denise Haslwanter, and Gorka Lasso Cabrera

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 893 (65 MB .mp3, 108 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Prometheus project (TWiV 578) 3:55
Reduced neutralization of South American yellow fever virus (Cell Host Microbe) 11:31
Letters read on TWiV 893 1:23:43
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:13:29

Dickson – Earth Day and Earth Day History
Brianne – XKCD: Family Reunion
Vincent – Tokaido: A Journey (DVD)

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 892: COVID-19 clinical update #111 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

April 23, 2022

In COVID-19 clinical update #111, Dr. Griffin discusses vaccine coverage and mortality in Hong Kong, immune response to boosters in kids, hospitalization of kids, breath based diagnostic test, viral co-infections, bivalent mRNA vaccine, intramuscular Evusheld, and global long COVID.

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 892 (33 MB .mp3, 54 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Vaccine coverage and mortality, Hong Kong (MMWR) 6:53
Kids behind on routine vaccinations (Politico) 14:15
Immune response to booster, 5-11 year olds (Pfizer) 16:00
Children and vaccination (AAP) 17:20
Hospitalization of 5-11 year olds (MMWR) 18:00
Test using breath samples (FDA) 19:24
Influenza virus, adenovirus, RS virus co-infections (Lancet) 26:00
Booster crystal ball (TWiV 890) 28:54
Bivalent vaccine (Res Square) 29:22
Bivalent vaccine in mice (bioRxiv) 34:41
Intramuscular Evusheld (NEJM) 37:05
Global PASC (J Inf Dis) 45:23
Dr. Griffin’s treatment guide (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 892 47:12
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

TWiV 891: LLOV in the time of Ebola

April 21, 2022

Elke, Adam, and Gabor join TWiV to discuss their work on Lloviu virus, a filovirus, including recovery of infectious virus from a DNA copy of the genome and from Schreiber’s bats in Hungary.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guests: Elke Muhlberger, Adam Hume, and Gabor Kemenesi

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 891 (65 MB .mp3, 108 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Elke on TWiV 200 and Threading the NEIDL 1:39
Infectious Lloviu virus from bats in Hungary (Nat Commun) 7:11
Infectious Lloviu virus from DNA (PloS Path) 7:11
Letters read on TWiV 891 56:01
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:11:01

Brianne – APod Stars and Globules in the Running Chicken Nebula
Kathy – BioRender Poster Builder
Rich – The Sins of Our Fathers: An Expanse Novella (The Expanse) by James S. A. Corey
Vincent – Baumgartner Restoration

Listener Pick

J – Time, Einstein, and the coolest stuff in the Universe

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 890: Looking into a booster crystal ball

April 17, 2022

This episode of TWiV is focused on COVID-19 vaccines and antibodies: who should get boosters, whether a variant matched mRNA vaccine is superior to a historical vaccine, and how the interval between vaccination and infection influences the quality of the antibody response.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 890 (65 MB .mp3, 108 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

What next for COVID-19 boosters? (NEJM) 2:27
Boosting with historical or variant mRNA vaccines (Cell) 18:06
Vaccination-infection interval determines antibody breadth (Cell Med) 1:02:05
Letters read on TWiV 890 1:19:09
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:36:01

Dickson – Webb Telescope’s coldest instrument reaches operating temperature
Brianne – Video of a CTL killing a tumor cell
Rich – Our Unfinished Pandemic (On the Media Podcast)
Vincent – Lý Thị Ca

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 889: COVID-19 clinical update #110 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

April 16, 2022

In COVID-19 clinical update #110, Dr. Griffin covers hospital admissions during variant outbreaks, viral load in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, predictive capacity of symptoms in children, comparison of antigen tests, incidence of myocarditis after vaccination, steroids during replication phase, Paxlovid efficacy and safety, fluvoxamine, sabizabutin, colchicine, and prevalence of infection in Africa.

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 889 (52 MB .mp3, 53 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Hospital admissions during Omicron and Delta variant outbreaks (Lancet) 3:48
Viral load in unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals (Nat Med) 6:19
Predictive Capability of symptoms in children (Clin Inf Dis) 11:59
Comparison of antigen tests (medRxiv) 12:26
Incidence of Myocarditis after COVID19 and non-COVID19 vaccination (Lancet) 22:00
Steroids during viral replication phase (Resp)
Paxlovid efficacy and safety (Pfizer) 32:33
Fluvoxamine & Outpatient Management (JAMA) 33:06
Sabizabutin efficacy and safety (Veru) 37:14
Colchicine and lack of benefit (Lancet) 40:56
SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in Africa (medRxiv) 42:05
Contribute to ASTMH fundraiser at PWB 44:13
Dr. Griffin’s treatment guide (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 889 44:59
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

TWiV 888: Molnupiravir with Richard Plemper

April 14, 2022

Richard joins TWiV to discuss the SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drug Molnupiravir , including how it was discovered, its mechanism of action, whether it is a mutagen for cells, and the future of drugs for treatment of COVID-19.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Richard Plemper

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 888 (65 MB .mp3, 108 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Richard on TWiV 636 1:25
Molnupiravir in ferrets (Nat Micro) 1:52
Oral prodrug of Remdesivir in ferrets (Nat Commun) 52:13
Letters read on TWiV 888 1:06:37
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:19:25

Brianne – BioRender Poster Builder
Alan – Hexbug cat toys
Vincent – US Mint 2019 American Innovation Coin – PA – Polio Vaccine

Listener Picks

Sue – American Visionary Art Museum
Frazer – Vaccine trial for killer elephant virus

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 887: Bonfire of the monocytes

April 10, 2022

TWiV explains why this season’s influenza vaccine is not protecting against mild to moderate disease caused by H3N2 virus, and that antibody-dependent entry of SARS-CoV-2 into monocytes is a major contributor to severe COVID-19.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Amy Rosenfeld

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 887 (65 MB .mp3, 108 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness (MMWR) 5:24
Properties of a dominant H3N2 variant (bioRxiv) 13:02
Scott Henley on influenza vaccine growth in eggs (TWiV 480) 12:36
Fc receptor dependent entry of SARS-CoV-2 into monocytes (Nature) 43:49
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:24:37

Dickson – Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmed to US Supreme Court
Amy – Some threats just keep coming in waves
Rich – Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Vincent – Martijn Doolaard

Listener Picks

Ann – Immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccines
Chris – Isoplexis

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 886: COVID-19 clinical update #109 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

April 9, 2022

In COVID-19 clinical update #109, Daniel Griffin discusses cardiac complications after infection or vaccination, long COVID in children, fourth vaccine dose in Israel, no need for fourth vaccine dose in EU, dexamethasone dosing, immunomodulation therapy, MIS outcomes in children, US long COVID effort launched, and herd immunity.

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 886 (27 MB .mp3, 45 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Cardiac complications after infection or vaccination (MMWR) 3:38
Long COVID in children (Future Med) 7:02
Fourth vaccine dose in Israel (NEJM) 15:11
No need for fourth vaccine dose (Eur Med Agency) 15:54
Dexamethasone dosing (Intensive Care Med) 23:23
Actemra priority review (Roche) 24:45
Guidelines on anticoagulation therapy (American Soc Hematol) 26:01
MIS outcomes in children (JAMA) 26:56
Biden launches long COVID effort (USA Today) 29:24
Herd immunity and COVID (J Inf Dis) 31:00
Contribute to ASTMH fundraiser at PWB 33:01
Dr. Griffin’s treatment guide (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 886 33:35
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

TWiV 885: Russian bats and Ankara vectors

April 7, 2022

TWiV reveals an ACE2-dependent sarbecovirus from Russian bats that is not inhibited by anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, and a modified vaccinia virus Ankara vectored vaccine that protects nonhuman primates from Delta infection.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 885 (73 MB .mp3, 122 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Sarbecovirus from Russian bat (bioRxiv) 1:33
MVA vectored COVID vaccine (Sci Immunol) 30:19
Letters read on TWiV 885 1:15:51
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:25:27

Brianne – The Search for a Model Octopus That Won’t Die After Laying Its Eggs
Rich – Vaccine Pioneers and Opponents with Paul Offit (Podcast: Connected by Controversy by Chris White) and The Cutter Incident by Paul Offit
Vincent – Simply Put: Vaccines Save Lives

Listener Picks

Rich – ‘Stolen’ Charles Darwin notebooks left on library floor in pink gift bag
Neva – Elin Thomas, UK textile artist
Viki – History of English Podcast

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 884: Cytokines and viral mimicry

April 3, 2022

Vincent and Amy explain how asthmatic bronchial smooth muscle increases rhinovirus replication in the bronchial epithelium, and mimicry of IL-17 by the ORF8 protein of SARS-CoV-2.