TWiV 898: Immunity is skin deep

May 8, 2022

TWiV explains why the concept of herd immunity might not apply to COVID-19, and the observation that smallpox vaccination causes an increase in skin bacteria that promote pathology and influence the immune response.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

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Download TWiV 898 (65 MB .mp3, 108 min)
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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

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2 comments on “TWiV 898: Immunity is skin deep

  1. Carol May 11, 2022

    Rivers of vacuoles represent the elastic cartilage in the mouse ear.

    Sincerely
    Retired veterinary pathologist.

  2. It’s always difficult in science as paradigms shift, especially in a science with as many caveats and unknowns as biology. I tell people that achievable “herd immunity” (whatever we’re in the process of learning what that actually may be) applies to some viruses (e.g., polio) but not others (flu, coronaviruses). In non-real-world situations, in might be possible to get a protective herd immunity with sars cov19, but this is the real-world, and we haven’t achieved that with the flu (and currently have no practical hopes to do so).