Alice writes: Hi Dr. Griffin, I found your podcast really interesting and it raised 2 questions for me: I am 79 and reasonably healthy (with SVT).  I had a bivalent booster in October ’22 which…

Vincent speaks with Kostya Chumakov about his career: raised by two virology parents in Moscow, trained in virology by Vadim Agol, then moving to the US FDA where he developed a molecular test for measuring production consistency of oral poliovirus vaccine.

Ron writes: Hi Twiv team I am in a discussion with a friend who insists that vaccines are designed to “prevent“ infection, and I remember this issue as vaccines are designed not to prevent infection…

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses autochthonous leprosy in the United States, a systematic review to identify novel clinical characteristics of Mpox virus infection and therapeutic and preventive strategies to combat the virus, two-year duration of immunity of inactivated poliovirus vaccine, evaluation of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 SIA impact in a large outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus in Nigeria, performance of rapid antigen tests to detect symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection, effectiveness of the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine, oral Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir for COVID-19 in vaccinated, non-hospitalized adults ages 18-50 years, genome-wide association study of long COVID, vaccination ameliorates cellular inflammatory responses in SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections, and high incidence of autonomic dysfunction and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome in patients with long-COVID.

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses surveillance to track progress toward poliomyelitis eradication, genetic stabilization of attenuated oral vaccines against poliovirus types 1 and 3, evaluation of Oseltamivir used to prevent hospitalization in outpatients with Influenza, viral emissions into the air and environment after SARS-CoV-2 human challenge, has COVID-19 threatened routine childhood vaccination, successful treatment of persistent symptomatic COVID-19 infection with extended duration Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir, anemia as a risk factor for disease progression in patients admitted for COVID-19, impact of fatigue as the primary determinant of functional limitations among patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome, post-COVID condition in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases, outpatient treatment of COVID-19 and incidence of post-COVID-19 condition over 10 months, metformin reduces SARS-CoV-2 in a Phase 3 randomized placebo controlled clinical trial, persistent serum protein signatures define an inflammatory subcategory of long COVID, and the relevance of pacing strategies in managing symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome.

TWiV explains genetic changes in nOPV2 strains that paralyzed children, outbreak of raccoon distemper in Toronto, EcoHealth Alliance gets its NIH grant back, and breakage at chromosomal fragile sites caused by the EBNA1 protein of Epstein-Barr virus as a mechanism for carcinogenesis.

Michele writes: Hi Dr. Griffin, First, thank you so much for all that you do to keep us smarter and safer. My 92 year old mom has not had Covid and told me that if…

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses an update on vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks, how the dream of wiping out polio might need a rethink, risk of death in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 vs seasonal Influenza in fall-winter, French Mpox cluster includes fully vaccinated patients, two individuals with potential Mpox virus reinfection, epidemiologic and clinical features of Mpox-associated deaths, FDA authorizes changes to simplify use of bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, SARS-CoV-2 during Omicron variant predominance among infants born to people with SARS-CoV-2, severe maternal morbidity and mortality of pregnant patients with COVID-19 infection during the early pandemic period in the US, sickness presenteeism in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, ventilation improvements among k–12 public school districts, risk factors and vectors for SARS-CoV-2 household transmission, SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies after bivalent versus monovalent, durability of bivalent boosters against Omicron subvariants, Nirmatrelvir and risk of hospital admission or death in adults with COVID-19, evolving real-world effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies for treatment of COVID-19, effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support–free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, efficacy and safety of Anakinra plus standard of care for patients with severe COVID-19, higher dose corticosteroids in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 who are hypoxic but not requiring ventilatory support, risk of autoimmune diseases in patients with COVID-19, definition of post–COVID-19 condition among published research studies, and sleep disturbance severity and correlates in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. 

Dom writes: Dear TWIV Team, I agree with your previous listener who requested a presentation aimed at a non scientific person.  The reason for the tremendous surge of listeners was that there were obvious important…