Virology
Test prudently
By Vincent Racaniello | | Basic virology
by Amy B. Rosenfeld I do not advocate testing for any person vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 unless they display severe symptoms or live with those who for whom vaccines are not yet approved. I understand that testing and isolation are mechanisms to break virus transmission chains and were used at the beginning of the pandemic to …
TWiV 851: Questions are tricky
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
The TWiV team reviews the observation that infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant causes reduced reproduction and pathogenesis in mice and hamsters. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 851 (61 MB .mp3, 102 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe/twiv
TWiV 850: COVID-19 clinical update #96 with Dr. Daniel Griffin
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
In COVID-19 clinical update #96, Daniel Griffin reviews Omicron in South Africa, rapid antigen tests, viral coinfections, isolation and quarantine, saliva preferred for Omicron, risk factors for severe disease in vaccinated, Paxlovid dosing, and long COVID. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 850 (58 MB .mp3, 48 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv
A Viral Heist
By Gertrud U. Rey | | Basic virology, Gertrud Rey
HSV-1 virions capture the cellular motor protein kinesin from initially infected epithelial cells and ferry it to subsequently infected neuronal cells to deliver their genome into the nucleus of those cells.
TWiV 846: Beta was stirring, and now in a mouse
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
TWiV explores the impact of the intestinal virome on seroconversion after rotavirus vaccination, and implications of the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 beta variant to infect wild-type laboratory mice. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 846 (61 MB .mp3, 102 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv
TWiV 845: COVID-19 clinical update #94 with Dr. Daniel Griffin
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
In COVID-19 clinical update #94, Daniel Griffin reviews the FDA EUA for Paxlovid, test to stay in school, immunity after infection, variants and therapeutics, quarantine and isolation guidelines, Molnupiravir in non-hospitalized patients, and convalescent serum in outpatients. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 845 (58 MB .mp3, 48 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Show …
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David Tuller
Trial By Error: In Protocol for Long COVID Exercise Trial, Investigators Advocate Lying to Participants
By David Tuller, DrPH Researchers are planning yet another trial of a rehabilitative exercise program for Long COVID—but, in this one, they propose to lie to all the participants about the nature of the study and the intervention being investigated. BMJ Open has recently published a paper called “Pursuing Reduction in Fatigue After COVID-19 via …
Trial By Error: Some Things I’ve Read Recently: Anil van der Zee on Sex, “Mold Warrior” Johnson, and a Rant Against the Word “Journey”
By David Tuller, DrPH Anil van der Zee says “Fuck M.E.” One aspect of ME and ME/CFS that receives perhaps too little attention is the impact on someone’s sex life. Engaging in sexual activity takes a significant amount of energy—and is therefore likely to trigger post-exertional malaise for many with this illness. Especially for those …
Trial By Error: Some Things I’ve Read Recently–Aboriginals and Long COVID, Tips for Disability Claims, Profile of Ron Davis
By David Tuller, DrPH Failure to address Long COVID in Australian Aboriginal communities Croakey Health Media is a small but feisty Australian news outlet that covers social and structural inequities in healthcare. Croakey recently published “a call for action to address Long COVID in Aboriginal communities,” which focused in particular on the situation in the …
Trial By Error: Journalist Simon Spichak on Lack of Focus on Post-Exertional Malaise in Long COVID Exercise Trials
By David Tuller, DrPH According to the headline of a recent article in The Sick Times, “less than 20% of Long COVID trials involving exercise even mention post-exertional malaise.” The news organization analyzed the registration records for Long COVID clinical trials and found that only a small minority assess or take into account post-exertional malaise (PEM), …
Trial By Error: JAMA Touts Long COVID Exercise Trial with Clinically Insignificant Results; Most LC Exercise Trials Ignore PEM, Per Sick Times
By David Tuller, DrPH In its current “Medical News in Brief” section, JAMA is touting and amplifying the questionable claims of a flawed trial to treat or prevent Long COVID published by one of the journals under its umbrella—JAMANetworkOpen. The JAMA headline: “Resistance Training Improves Long COVID Outcomes.” Technically, the headline is true. In the …
Trial By Error: Another Exercise Trial with Clinically Insignificant Findings
By David Tuller, DrPH A recent study from JAMA Network Open, called “Resistance Exercise Therapy After COVID-19 Infection: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” demonstrates some of the flaws that so often mar papers in this field of research. The trial’s reported results do not warrant the optimistic conclusion that the intervention “may be a generalizable therapy …
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