TWiV reviews models for determining correlates of neutralizing antibody protection against COVID-19, and for identifying key vector and host species that drive transmission of zoonotic pathogens.
TWiV 792: Transmission with Jeffrey Shaman
- August 12, 2021
- Tagged as: COVID-19, delta variant, epidemiology, pandemic, R0, reproductive index, SARS-CoV-2, transmission, viral, virology, virus, viruses
Jeffrey Shaman returns to TWiV to explain how epidemiologists measure SARS-CoV-2 movement among humans, including calculation of the reproductive index, secondary transmission, and what factors affect transmission.
TWiV 789: Does delta mean a change?
- August 5, 2021
- Tagged as: alphavirus, COVID-19, delta variant, Fc receptor, fitness, monocytes, non-neutralizing antibody, pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, transmission, Vaccine, viral, virology, virulence, virus, viruses
TWiV reviews a leaked CDC document on virulence and spread of the delta variant, and how anti-alphavirus antibodies that do not neutralize infection can nevertheless protect mice from disease.
TWiV 777: SARS-CoV-2 fitness with Ron Fouchier
- July 8, 2021
- Tagged as: antigenic drift, coronavirus, COVID-19, delta variant, fitness, mutations, SARS-CoV-2, transmission, Vaccine, variants of convern, viral, virology, virus, viruses
Ron Fouchier explains why increased transmission of SARS-CoV-2-variants has not been demonstrated, and their ability to displace ancestral variants is due to greater fitness, much like influenza virus antigenic variation leads to better fitness and replacement of previously circulating variants.
TWiV 756: Precluding problematic polio prophylaxis
- May 16, 2021
- Tagged as: coronavirus, COVID-19, gain of function, H5N1, nOPV2, OPV, pandemic, Polio, poliovirus, Sabin vaccine, SARS-CoV-2, transmission, viral, virology, virus, viruses
TWiV returns to the 2012 brouhaha over transmission experiments with avian H5N1 influenza virus, re-examines the claim of SARS-CoV-2 RNA integration into human DNA, and reviews the engineering and testing of a genetically stable version of the attenuated type 2 Sabin poliovirus vaccine.
TWiV 755: COVID-19 clinical update #62 with Dr. Daniel Griffin
- May 15, 2021
- Tagged as: coronavirus, COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine, mucormycosis, pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, transmission, Vaccine, viral, virology, virus, viruses
In COVID-19 clinical update #62, Daniel Griffin covers outdoor transmission of the virus, safe use of NSAIDS, expansion of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to include 12-15 year olds, post-disease Mucormycosis, and hydroxychloroquine treatment associated with increased mortality.
TWiV 705: Rocky Mountain COVID with Emily Travanty
- January 10, 2021
- Tagged as: coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, transmission, UK variant, virus, VOC 202023/01
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.
TWiV 697: The sky is NOT falling
- December 24, 2020
- Tagged as: aav, ACE2 receptor, coronavirus, COVID-19, mutation, Orf8, pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, spike protein, transmission, UK variant, variant of concern, viral, virology, virus, viruses, VOC202012/01
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.
On this episode, TWiV makes Bloomberg Business News 2020 Jealousy List, crushing of CDC revealed by insiders, seasonal influenza during the COVID-19 pandemic, FDA briefing documents from Moderna, and three-quarters attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 during an unmitigated epidemic in Brazil.
TWiV 679: Mink, mutation, and myocytes
- November 8, 2020
- Tagged as: bats, cardiomyocyte, coronavirus, COVID-19, date palm sap, heart damage, mink, Nipah virus, pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, spillover, transmission, viral, virology, virus, viruses
Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19, Slovlakia’s plan to test all adults for SARS-CoV-2 infection, viral variants arising in Danish mink and their potential threat to humans, why it is unethical to carry out challenge trials, Nipah virus dynamics in bats and spillovers into humans, and direct cardiac damage by spike-mediated cardiomyocyte fusion.