TWiV revisits chronic wasting disease of cervids and the ability of the prions to infect meadow voles and raccoons, and the suggestion that stochastic assembly of influenza virus particles may play a role in phenotypic diversity.
In COVID-19 clinical update #106, Daniel Griffin covers failure of ivermectin to improve hospitalization, increased hospitalization of children with Omicron, seroconversion of children versus adults, effectiveness of Pfizer mRNA vaccine in children, high vaccine effectiveness in Finland against Omicron, distinct long COVID clinical phenotypes, and estimating worldwide excess mortality.
Michael Worobey joins TWiV to explain evidence that SARS-CoV-2 emerged via the wildlife trade and that the Huanan market was the unambiguous epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.
TWiV discusses the virome of game animals in China, and the finding that binding of sarbecoviruses to ACE2 is an ancestral and evolvable trait.
In COVID-19 clinical update #105, Daniel Griffin discusses changes in brain structure after infection, dementia in patients with pneumonia, Paxlovid in children, mask effectiveness in schools, host factors and severe disease, post-acute symptoms, and the mission of CEPI.
TWiV reviews the six known coronaviruses that infect pigs and what can be learned about human infections, and how the giant Mimivirus DNA genome is organized into a nucleocapsid.
In COVID-19 clinical update #104, Daniel Griffin reviews effectiveness of mRNA vaccines among children, number of children affected by disease, accuracy of rapid antigen tests, CDC guidance for prevention strategies, monoclonal antibody effectiveness, predicting progression to severe respiratory failure from pneumonia, risk of long COVID after two vaccine doses, and peripheral neuropathy in long COVID.
TWiV discusses whether or not Omicron should be designated a new serotype of SARS-CoV-2, and the finding that amino acid changes that adapt SARS-CoV-2 to mink or ferret do not increase fitness in the human airway.
In COVID-19 clinical update #103, Daniel Griffin covers immunocompromised people, hospitalization of children, vaccine usage update, Omicron and cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies, reinfection prevents disease in hamsters, repeated infections with endemic coronaviruses, global burden of antimicrobial resistance, ivermectin not protective in hamsters, and Omicron evades therapeutic monoclonals.
TWiV reviews epidemiological and experimental evidence that infection with Epstein-Barr virus leads to the production of antibodies against a viral protein that cross-react with a human protein, leading to multiple sclerosis.
The Hosts of TWiV
Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D.
Brianne Barker, Ph.D.
Rich Condit, Ph.D.
Alan Dove, Ph.D.
Daniel Griffin, M.D.,
Ph.D., CTropMed CTH
Angela Mingarelli, DVM
Jolene Ramsey, Ph.D.
Kathy Spindler, Ph.D.