TWiV 566: Chicken gumbo and a corona

September 22, 2019

The TWiV team reveals the protein corona that surrounds virus particles and influences infectivity and amyloid aggregation, and a proofreading-impaired herpesvirus that produces quasispecies-like populations.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Guest: Kiki Warren

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

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7 comments on “TWiV 566: Chicken gumbo and a corona

  1. Jim Doe Sep 25, 2019

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/opinion/anti-vaccine-parents.html

    And Now an Editorial on Measles have come out in the NY times

    In September, New York City declared that its latest measles outbreak was over. More than 60 percent of the 650 people who contracted the illness were children under 5, those most susceptible to a severe measles illness.

    To prevent future outbreaks, we have to figure out what caused the last one. The problem is that we are misdirecting our attention. Much of it is focused on the global anti-vaccine movement.

    But there is a much larger group: the “vaccine hesitant.” These people intentionally delay or deviate from the routine schedule, staggering vaccine administration according to their own timeline. This leaves children without adequate protection from preventable diseases and puts their community at risk for outbreaks. And it’s unscientific.

    A committee of experts known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices annually recommends an evidence-based schedule for every vaccination to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No other schedule for any vaccine provides better safety or efficacy. (For measles, it’s one shot when the baby is around 12 to 15 months old and another shot at 4 to 6 years. If there
    around 12 to 15 months old and another shot at 4 to 6 years. If there is an outbreak, infants who live in that area should get a shot starting at 6 months and then continue with the standard regimen.)

    Despite this, 25 percent of infants in New York have not been fully vaccinated by the time they reach 9 months. This vaccine-hesitant cohort is significantly larger than “vaccine refusers,” which is estimated to be 3 percent.

    Recently, I helped care for a hospitalized 14-month-old with a bacterial blood and lung infection that a vaccine could have prevented. Several months earlier, this child also had measles, which weakens the immune system. So it was not surprising that this child had developed a subsequent severe infection.

    As a pediatric infectious diseases physician, this frustrates me. The parents insisted they were not anti-vaxxers, so I went to their pediatrician’s office in the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn where the outbreak was centered. I assumed their doctor was to blame. I was wrong.

  2. Jerry Doe Sep 25, 2019

    https://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/measles-vaccine-deadline-for-dcps-passes

    WASHINGTON (WJLA) — Monday was the deadline for all District of Columbia students to show proof of having their vaccinations, or risk being kept out of school.

    It’s against D.C. law for kids to be in school without vaccines and without a waiver. Yet in July, the ABC7 I-Team discovered more than 8,000 students in that category.

    Under the law, parents have 20 days to get their kids vaccinated or provide a certificate of exemption for medical or religious reasons.

    RELATED: As school starts in D.C., parents have 20 days to get kids vaccinated

    The I-Team contacted the DC Health Department and the deputy mayor in charge of education to see how many students missed the deadline for the Fall 2019 school year and what DC was doing about it.

    D.C. officials say they’re working on the request for information but at the time of this article posting, they did not report any numbers and information about what will happen to students who did not comply.

    RELATED: Over 8,000 students unvaccinated for measles are enrolled in D.C. schools

    The National Institutes of Health considers measles one of the most contagious diseases in the world. Earlier this year, multiple cases of measles were identified in the Baltimore area, less than 50 miles from D.C.

  3. But there is a much larger group: the “vaccine hesitant.” These people intentionally delay or deviate from the routine schedule, staggering vaccine administration according to their own timeline. This leaves children without adequate protection from preventable diseases and puts their community at risk for outbreaks. And it’s unscientific.

  4. Dear Hosts of the TWIV podcast,
    Would you please consider sharing the text of e-mails & comments discussed at the beginning of your episodes? Sometimes it’s hard to listen and understand everything you are reading. I was particularly interested in Yenz (sorry if its misspelled) quasispecies e-mail. There were alot of interesting and important informations and it was hard for me to catch on Alan’s reading. It is a complexe subject and I am not a native english speaker.
    Thank you,
    Best,
    Amal