Mary writes:
Hi TWiV Team,
Here’s a chuckle to go with your morning. Seattle Times editorial cartoonist David Horsey hits the nail on the head when he notes ‘It is undetermined whether any of the new committee members are witches, warlocks, fortunetellers or snake oil salesmen.’ https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/rfk-jr-s-vaccine-panel-toil-and-trouble/
Enjoy!
Your fan,
Mary
—
Alex writes:
Dear TWiV team,
Being a huge fan of the podcast and a new dad to a little girl, I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to find the (somewhat recent) clinical update episode that featured a study on the immunologically optimal timing of the 1st measles shot.
If I remember correctly, it was something like 14 months, but I’d like to read up on it again before talking to our pediatrician.
I would be super grateful if you could point me to the right episode!
Thank you so much for everything you do and sending our regards across the pond all the way from Germany,
Alex
[TWiV 1117 https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-1117/ ]
Anthony writes:
Insurance companies, HMOs and even government entities must be distressed that what for a century has been a predictable/negligible and so trivially manageable cost will be lost. The replacement will be much more difficult to forecast and highly expensive illness.
There’s also soon to be the prospect of outbreaks on the scale of natural disasters. Before 2020, health care payers never had to plan for claims on the scale of a hurricane or a tornado.
Are health care companies doing anything to counter anti vax?
Thank you.
Anthony Olszewski
@anthonyolszewski.bsky.social
Peg writes:
Hi TWIV,
Great podcast! Some news about the lack of vaccine uptake is always important.
However, as a fully vaccinated senior, I’d like to hear more about how I can protect myself from the unvaccinated–given that they may be spreading a dangerous virus even before they know they are ill.
I live in NY state, but I visit my adult children in PA.
All the best, Peg O
Mary writes:
Dear TWiV Team,
I am a regular listener, and understand you are very concerned about public health as it is impacted by loss of trust in science, vaccines, and the health care profession.
Recently I met the mother of the lead author of a paper on this subject. The paper identifies a need for data on individuals’ level of trust and their subsequent health care access. Using data from the Pandemic Recovery Survey (PRS), conducted across 21 countries with over 621,000 respondents, the authors examined the relationship between trust in health care professionals and health care access delays. By understanding how trust influences health care access, the study seeks to inform policies that improve health outcomes and address the complex interplay between trust, access, and quality in health care systems. Here is the link https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2025.1607884/full
Also another awful tale of the current administration’s efforts to destroy trust in the system appeared recently in the Seattle Times. Washington immigrants’ protected health data was shared with immigration officials. In this case it was through the state’s expansion of Obamacare – a favorite target of the current administration. Here is the article: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/wa-immigrants-protected-health-data-shared-with-deportation-officials/
Of course these assaults on the privacy of immigrants make me and everyone else less trustful of the health care system. Hopefully the paper demonstrating the relationship can be used to inform a counterattack. Anyway as soon as my new friend told me about it I knew you were the folks to share it with. Onward and upward!
Warm regards,
Mary
Peggy writes:
I saw this on the BBC and thought you should see it – regarding the discussion on rabies vaccination
Briton dies from rabies after ‘scratch’ from stray puppy in Morocco – BBC News – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98wyllp170o
Daniel writes:
TWiV 1227 had a listener pick on X.com that the hosts couldn’t view due to not being logged in. You can fix that by replacing “x.com” with “xcancel.com” in the URL (so for the pick, change https://x.com/jameslucasit/status/1846241897699815912?s=46 to https://xcancel.com/jameslucasit/status/1846241897699815912?s=46 ). You can read their about page for more info and browser extensions to do that automatically: https://xcancel.com/about
– Daniel
Anne writes:
I found this link posted by a thread reader app, which will allow non-X/twitter users to see the thread you’d mentioned at the end of episode 1227 (posted Jun 15). To me, some of the videos (at the microscopic levels) seem to have been crafted for clicks.
https://threadnavigator.com/thread/1846241897699815912
Also, in reference to Nobel Prize winners making claims outside of their fields, and hence they shouldn’t be assumed to be experts outside of their fields, there are perhaps too many examples of that. Two that come to mind are Linus Pauling, a brilliant chemist/biochemist and his Vitamin C claims re: cancer and the common cold, and William Shockley (transistor), who after he retired, lectured on racist and eugenicist topics. There is a section on his Wikipedia page about this.
Wikipedia also has a page listing other Nobel prize winners who have what has been defined as “Nobelitis.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_disease
Regards,
Anne
Bill writes:
https://www.sciencealert.com/heres-why-rational-people-skip-vaccines-even-when-they-trust-science
— Keep up the work on good science and honesty
Bill
J writes:
Hope this brightens your day. (Headquarters for Vaccine The Herald Oct12,1897 P5 last col6)
Chris writes:
Hello Vincent et al.
Just wanted to reach out and say thank you for all the great content over the years and helping me stay informed on the topic of virology.
Im emailing you today, because I OFTEN use episode 496 as a resource to show people that are vaccine hesitant or when debating anti vaxxers online. the episode is truly one of the best resources for combating vaccine misinfo. However there is one problem with the episode, it is ~7 years old and is pre covid. I personally would love it if you could make another episode akin to 496, just to update some of the current talking points and to add info about covid vaccines and MRNA vax
Also on the show it is often mentioned that the best way to fight antivax is sometimes with anecdote so here is a discussion line that i have found VERY effective for combating antivax/ vax hesitant.
Me: “Do you know anyone who has died during COVID” ( almost everyone knows at least one person who died during covid not even including high profile deaths)
Them: “Yes”
Me: “Well personally I know of at least 3 people who died directly from the virus, one was a guy in his early 50’s and was unvaccinated, however I don’t know a single person that even had a bad reaction to the vaccine. In fact ive never even met a person who says they know someone who had a bad reaction to the mRNA vaccines beyond the sore arm and maybe grogginess the following day. Hell even beyond death, I know a few people that had long covid from the virus with one of my friends still saying his sense of taste is only 90% of what it once was, but i dont know anyone who had that after the vaccine”
I have found this to be an EXTREMELY effective approach for discussing vaccines with people. granted i havnt used this against hard core antivaxer however with poeple that have more grounded skepticism it works well as it really puts into perspective how the fake alternative news doesn’t align with their actual experience, but their personal experience does actually align with the scientific consensus.
Also you gave me (wormtalk94) a shoutout of TWIP the other day, so i just wanted to say thanks!
Thanks for your time and all the great info,
-chris