TWiV 1298: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

This Week in Virology

Vincent Racaniello

Virology, Science & Medicine, Pathogen, Infection, Virus, Racaniello, Twiv, Vincent, Microbe, Medicine, Infectious, Microbiology

4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2026

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin and Vincent Racaniello discuss reversal of last week’s no review decision on a flu mRNA vaccine by Vinjay Prasad, appointment of Jay Bhattacharya as CDC director, no experience required, and already detectable reduction in hepatitis B virus vaccination rates, then Dr. Griffin then deep dives into recent statistics on RSV, influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infections, the Wasterwater Scan dashboard, Johns Hopkins measles tracker, where to find PEMGARDA, how to access and pay for Paxlovid, the consequences of measles infection on immune amnesia (shout out to Immune 26), long COVID treatment center, where to go for answers to your long COVID questions, long COVID effect on fertility and type 2 diabetes and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 1298 (26 MB .mp3, 43 min) Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Whiplash! F.D.A. Reverses Decision and Agrees to Review Moderna’s Flu Vaccine (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Access New wire) N.I.H. Director Will Temporarily Run C.D.C. in Leadership Shake-Up (NY Times) Reduction in infant Hepatitis B Immunizations (Oregon State Health Department) Why Adenovirus vectored vaccine failed: Adenoviral Inciting Antigen and Somatic Hypermutation in VITT (NEJM) Wastewater for measles (WasterWater Scan) Measles cases and outbreaks (CDC Rubeola) Big outbreak, bright lights…Measles Dashboard(South Carolina Department of Public Health) Measles Outbreak Hits Florida College (NY Times) Utah’s measles outbreak reaches 300 cases (CIDRAP) Measles Is Actively Spreading in SLCo (Salt Lake County Health Department) Tracking Measles Cases in the U.S. (Johns Hopkins) Measles vaccine recommendations from NYP (jpg) 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) Measles 2025 (NEJM) Measles virus infection diminishes preexisting antibodies that offer protection from other pathogens (Science; Immune 26) Incomplete genetic reconstitution of B cell pools contributes to prolonged immunosuppression after measles (Science) Studies into the mechanism of measles-associated immune suppression during a measles outbreak in the Netherlands (Nature Communications) Influenza: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan) US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses) Respiratory virus activity levels (CDC Respiratory Illnesses) 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) The risk of cardiac disease events after respiratory syncytial virus disease: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis (European Respiratory Review) 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) COVID-19 Antiviral Prescription Receipt Among Outpatients Aged ≥65 Years (CDC: MMWR) Where to get pemgarda (Pemgarda) EUAfor 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 Assessing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination on fertility and assisted reproductive techniques outcomes: an umbrella review (Vaccine) Long-Term Risk of Incident Type 2 Diabetes Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Population-Based Study in British Columbia, Canada (Diabetes Metabolism Research and Review) Reaching out to US house representative Letters read on TWiV 1298 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.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This Week in Virology, the podcast about viruses, the kind that make you sick.
0:10.3	From MicrobTV, this is Twiv, this week in Virology.
0:15.5	Episode 1298 recorded on February 19th, 2026.
0:22.1	I'm Vincent Rackeniello, and you're listening to the podcast, All About Viruses.
0:27.5	Joining me today from New York, Daniel Griffin.
0:31.0	Hello, everyone.
0:33.0	Where it looks like spring is coming soon, right, Daniel?
0:36.2	Maybe, maybe, except I think we're about to get hit with the nor'easter. So I'll see. That would mean like rain, whipping rain and all that stuff? Yeah, wind blowing in from the northeast. Oh, right. Yeah, I don't know. I just got an email today from one of the guys I sail with. He's like, oh, we should sail this weekend. And I'm like, I think the bay is still frozen. So I was running by it earlier today.
0:57.5	And it's hard to sail when the bay is frozen. So what's the red tie? I don't know if I've seen that one for. So it's, it's bright orange. And it's, it's prions again. It's just, just you know it's been so gray that i actually had a
1:12.6	different tie i had anthrax picked out and i was like i just need something to brighten up this
1:17.8	this dark okay well that does it but the preons are not a good thing yeah so bright bright
1:22.8	orange preon bow tie so all right let's start off with the quotation.
1:27.8	We have a lot to talk about.
1:28.9	I even have like stuff.
1:29.8	I'm going to talk about that next week because it's just too much stuff going on.
1:35.4	If we try, we may still fail.
1:38.7	But if we do not try, we cannot possibly succeed.
1:42.6	Totally right.
1:43.5	I was on a conference call and I was suggesting things and someone said, that'll never work.
1:49.8	And I said, well, we have to try.
1:52.8	You got to try stuff, right?
1:54.4	I mean, if you don't do anything, then you're definitely not going to succeed.
	...

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