Lori writes:
Hi Daniel and Vincent,
Could you clarify for me, so I am not spreading incorrect information. Is it fair to say the avian flu (H5N1) that is presently in some birds in North America is not the flu(s) that is spread in people at this time. The risk of humans getting avian flu from infected birds is very low (due to receptor binding site preferences). Although we want to be cautious we don’t need to be too worried about getting flu from bird poop on our porch.
Always appreciative,
Lori
Anna writes:
Dear Dr. Griffin,
Thank you for your thorough and excellent clinical updates on TWIV!
I have one suggestion: if you reference any wastewater data, you may consider using the new-and-improved CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) dashboard at https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/ instead of the Biobot data. CDC now has a nice national summary (like Biobot), but their dataset reflects > 1,200 sites, as compared with a few hundred in Biobot’s. (You can get to the number of CDC sites if you dig down into COVID Data Tracker.) Also, NWSS will be adding new targets to their dashboard beyond mpox virus and SARS-CoV-2 in the coming year, including influenza A & B and RSV, but also adenovirus 40/41, Campylobacter jejuni, Candida auris, norovirus GI and GII, Shiga-toxin-producing E. Coli, and some specific antibiotic resistance genes (carbapenemases, ESBLs, and colistin and vancomycin resistance genes).
Thanks again!
Kind regards,
Anna Mehrotra, PhD PE (she/her)
Director, Wastewater Surveillance Program
Water Environment Federation
Lori writes:
Hello, Daniel:
I always look forward to Clinical Update on Saturday mornings. I feed my dog and cats, grab a mug of coffee, then turn on my computer to listen to you and Vincent. A friend just asked if I’d heard anything about changing arms with the Covid boosters. I told her that the last thing I heard is that it really doesn’t matter, but had heard at one time that using the same arm might be better in order to target the same lymph node that originally encountered the antigen. As far as I know that advice hasn’t changed but I told her I would ask you!
Thanks,
Lori
Tom writes:
I assume this is somehow common in both of your professional milieus, but it comes up so incredibly often on a show discussing Covid, that I’m finally breaking down and asking: you both know you are mispronouncing it, right?
Love absolutely everything else about what you do ;).