Mark writes:
Hello Daniel and Vincent,
This is my first email since meeting you both at the TWiV 1000 event! Keep on going. I listen to Clinical Update every Saturday walking my dogs.
Background
Married couple: he was born in 1958, she was born in 1962. Both current on vaccines for Flu, RSV, Sars-Cov-2, Shingles, and other common vaccines. They have travel planned in June to the UK, Norway, and Iceland. CDC travel guidelines recommend full vaccination for measles. Both received an MMR booster for travel in 2019. Neither recalls if they were vaccinated for measles as children. Brothers and cousin family members don’t know. Sadly all parents are deceased.
The Question
Given they received an MMR vaccination in 2019 are they safe? Or should they get a measles booster before travel?
All the best.
Mark
Kang writes:
Hello, Dr. Griffin:
I had a delightful dinner with Vincent, Christina, and you at the Greek Islands Restaurant when you were in Chicago, and I am still delighted by the information I get from Clinical Updates.
I have a question about the MMR vaccine. I was born before 1957, but my PCP checked my titers, and my measles and rubella titers are high, but I have no antibodies for mumps. What are your recommendations for a booster?
Thanks
Kang Chiu
TWiV fan
Rich writes:
Dr. Griffin,
Can you review the criteria for selection of testing protocols with the various respiratory infections in a primary care setting. It can be confusing in the case of a respiratory infection owing to similarities of symptoms and the need to self-advocate for an early evidence based therapy.
Thank you for your dedication, you guys have been and continue to be my lifeline in these perilous times.
Rich Schoenbaum, DDS
Robert writes:
Dear Drs Racaniello and Griffin,
I’d like to provide some feedback on a recent TWIV episode. First, a bit about my background. I received a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from University of Washington and have worked in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry for over 24 years. I currently work at a nonprofit organization that is focused on drug and vaccine development for infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries. I directly participated in efforts to develop two recombinant protein subunit SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, Corbevax and Indovac, for which over 100 million doses were deployed during the pandemic in India and Indonesia, respectively. In short, I am, like you, a scientist with expertise in virology and vaccines.
In your recent coverage of the absurd HHS plan “Generation Gold Standard” to develop inactivated vaccines using beta-propiolactone (BPL) inactivation, you criticized this approach because “the Chinese” had already tried this with SARS-CoV-2 and it was unsuccessful. First, my commentary on the science behind this: I completely agree the data with Sinovac’s BPL-inactivated CoronaVac SARS-CoV-2 vaccine indicates that overall it was less effective than mRNA vaccines at providing protection from severe disease. Furthermore, I share your dismay that this plan will be a huge waste of taxpayer money and risks damaging the credibility of vaccine development in general. However, I’d like to encourage you to avoid monolithic and potentially inflammatory statements about what “the Chinese” have done, as these may reinforce racist stereotypes. Perhaps I’m being hypersensitive as a fourth generation Chinese-American, but I believe statements like this risk insinuating that this approach (generating vaccines via BPL inactivation) is inherently flawed because of Chinese inferiority. As you are well aware, there has already been a huge amount of unwarranted and racist criticism of Chinese scientists and Chinese people in general during the pandemic. Instead, I would encourage you to be more specific and racially/nationally neutral, for example simply stating that the BPL approach was unsuccessful with widely deployed vaccines such as CoronaVac. It is unnecessary to bring in race and nationality. I would also point out that another BPL inactivated vaccine, Covaxin, was produced by the Indian company Bharat Biotech. In other words, it was not only a Chinese company that developed a BPL-inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine which was found to be less effective than mRNA vaccines. We should use objective data to make our arguments and need to be vigilant about invoking racist tropes.
I remain a supporter of and donor to both Microbe TV and Parasites Without Borders, please keep up the good work.
Best regards,
Robert