TWiV 1354: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update, Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello remember Dolly Parton and her patronage of science, especially development of the COVID-19 vaccines, if the shingles vaccine protect against cardiovascular events as well as dementia, the continued national cyclosporiasis and screwworm outbreaks, size of the Ebola outbreak in the Congo, the death of 2 children in Pennsylvania from measles and the economic cost of the measles outbreak, before Dr. Griffin deep dives into how to determine the case fatality rate of measles as well as measles outbreaks, recent statistics RSV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 infections, approval of new mRNA COVID-19 vaccines by the FDA, access and how pay for Paxlovid, where to go for answers about long COVID-19, clinical guidelines for treating long COVID, B-cells-autoimmunity- long COVID, enrolling in a long COVID trial and the use of the COVID antiviral drug to "sop up" chronic virus shedding and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

• Dolly Parton adapts her song Jolene as she receives Covid-19 vaccine she helped fund (YouTube)
• Dolly Parton's major contributions to vaccines and public health (the bmj)
• Recombinant shingles vaccination and the risk of cardiovascular events (Nature Medicine)
• Surveillance of Cyclosporiasis (CDC: Cyclosporiasis)
• Infectious DiseaseOutbreaks (Michigan: Health & Human Services)
• Cyclosporiasis Cases in North Carolina (North Carolina: Division of Public Health)
• Cyclospora Infection (Cyclosporiasis) (NYC Health)
• Missouri Communicable Disease Report (2026) (Missouri Health)
• TWiP 285: Why is cyclospora hard to contain: Parasitologists explain the 2026 US outbreak (microbeTV:TWiP)
• Dashboard SCREWWORM.Gov (USDA: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service)
• CDC Activates Emergency Operations Center for New World Screwworm Response (CDC Newroom)
• FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization for Generic Drug to Prevent New World Screwworm in Cattle(FDA)
• History of Ebola Outbreaks (CDC: Ebola)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo (OCHA)
• Ebola dashboard (ebola.fyi)
• EBOLA: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2026 (WHO)
• Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak Democratic Republic of the Congo(WHO: Democratic Republic of Congo)
• Ebola Outbreak: Current Situation (CDC:Ebola)
• Wastewater for measles (WasterWater Scan)
• Measles cases and outbreaks (CDC Rubeola)
• Big outbreak, bright lights…Measles Dashboard (South Carolina Department of Public Health)
• Utah measles outbreak response (Utah Department of Health and Human Services)
• Utah Measles Dashboard (Utah Department of Health and Human Services)
• Measles (VDH: Virginia Department of Health)
• Tracking Measles Cases in the U.S. (Johns Hopkins)
• Measles vaccine recommendations from NYP (jpg)
• HAP's Latest News Pa. Launches New Measles Dashboard (Hospital + HealthSystem Association of Pennsylvania)
• Measles (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
• Weekly measles and rubella monitoring (Government of Canada)
• Measles (WHO)
• Get the FACTS about measles (NY State Department of Health)
• Measles (CDC Measles (Rubeola))
• Measles vaccine (CDC Measles (Rubeola))
• Presumptive evidence of measles immunity (CDC)
• Contraindications and precautions to measles vaccination (CDC)
• Adverse events associated with childhood vaccines: evidence bearing on causality (NLM)
• Measles Vaccination: Know the Facts (ISDA: Infectious Diseases Society of America)
• Deaths following vaccination: what does the evidence show (Vaccine)
• Two more kids die. And one more theater show. (Your Local Epidemiologist)
• RFK Jr. says Shapiro's office may have fabricated measles deaths (Politico)
• ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. SPEAKS OUT ABOUT VACCINES (Lancaster Patriot)
• Coroner says baby with measles in Pennsylvania died of a ruptured spleen (NBC News)
• Chapter 13: Measles (CDC: Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-preventable Diseases)
• Challenges in measuring measles case fatality ratios in settings without vital registration (Emerging Themes in Epidemiology)
• High attack rates and case fatality during a measles outbreak in groups with religious exemption to vaccination (The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)
• Oz: MMR vaccine 'is not a lethal vaccine' (The Hill)
• RFK Jr: Secretary of Measlesland (Substack: Beyond the Noise)
• 'Brady Bunch' episode fuels campaigns against vaccines and Marcia's miffed (MPRNews)
• Use of Nowcasting to Estimate Real-Time Transmission Trends During a Measles Outbreak — South Carolina, October 2025–March 2026 (CDC:MMWR)
• Fighting measles is expensive. See what it cost to contain 10 cases (Washington Post)
• 'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' (Netherlands Heart Journal)
• Influenza: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
• US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
• Respiratory virus activity levels (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
• Flu vaccine recommendations: Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee March 12, 2026 Meeting Announcement (FDA)
• WHO updates all 3 viral strains to be included in fall flu shots (CIDRAP)
• FDA vaccine advisers recommend adding subclade K to fall shots (CIDRAP)
• Weekly surveillance report: cliff notes (CDC FluView)
• OPTION 2: XOFLUZA $50 Cash Pay Option (xofluza)
• RSV: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
• Respiratory Diseases (Yale School of Public Health)
• US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
• RSV-Network (CDC Respiratory Syncytial virus Infection)
• Vaccines for Adults (CDC: Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV))
• Economic Analysis of Protein Subunit and mRNA RSV Vaccination in Adults aged 50-59 Years (CDC: ACIP)
• Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
• COVID-19 deaths (CDC)
• Respiratory Illnesses Data Channel (CDC: Respiratory Illnesses)
• COVID-19 national and regional trends (CDC)
• COVID-19 variant tracker (CDC)
• SARS-CoV-2 genomes galore (Nextstrain)
• Heterogeneity of Airborne Virus Transmission in the Built Environment: A Narrative Review (Pathogens and Immunity)
• Moderna Receives U.S. FDA Approval for Updated 2026-2027 COVID-19 Vaccines (Moderna)
• Novavax's Partnership Strategy Continues to Deliver with XFG-adapted Nuvaxovid™ Approvals in the U.S., EU and Japan for 2026-2027 Vaccination Season (novavax)
• Pfizer and BioNTech Receive U.S. FDA Approval for XFG-adapted COVID-19 Vaccine (Pfizer)
• FDA approves new COVID vaccines (CIDRAP)
• Where to get pemgarda (Pemgarda)
• EUA for the pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 (INVIYD)
• Infusion center (Prime Fusions)
• CDC Quarantine guidelines (CDC)
• NIH COVID-19 treatment guidelines (NIH)
• Drug interaction checker (University of Liverpool)
• Help your eligible patients access PAXLOVID with the PAXCESS Patient Support Program (Pfizer Pro)
• Understanding Coverage Options (PAXCESS)
• Infectious Disease Society guidelines for treatment and management (ID Society)
• Molnupiravir safety and efficacy (JMV)
• Convalescent plasma recommendation for immunocompromised (ID Society)
• What to do when sick with a respiratory virus (CDC)
• Managing healthcare staffing shortages (CDC)
• Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org)
• Daniel Griffin's evidence based medical practices for long COVID (OFID)
• Long COVID hotline (Columbia : Columbia University Irving Medical Center)
• The answers: Long COVID
• A distinct effector B cell population drives autoantibody production in SARS-CoV-2 infection (Immunity)
• Rapid recruitment for a remote long COVID clinical trial (LANCET:Infectious Diseases)
• Insights from a double-blind, randomized, direct-to-participant intervention trial for Long COVID (medrxiv)
• Nirmatrelvir–ritonavir targeting viral persistence in post-COVID-19 condition (long COVID) in the USA (RECOVER-VITAL): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial (LANCET: Infectious Diseases)
• Reaching out to US house representative
• Letters read on TWiV 1354
• Dr. Griffin's COVID treatment summary (pdf)
• Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.