Virology
TWiV 830: A culture of resistance
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
TWiV explains that a recent report suggesting that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein inhibits V(D)J recombination in vitrowould not impact immunity after infection or vaccination, and describes the isolation of remdesivir resistant mutants in cells in culture, and the emergence of amino acid changes in the spike protein identical to those in variants of concern, in the …
TWiV 829: Antiviral and cytotoxically empowered for COVID-19
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
A TWiV duo reviews how SARS-CoV-2 attacks the olfactory mucosa but spares the olfactory bulb, vaccination with BNT162b2 induces virus-specific stem cell memory T cells, and development of an oral protease inhibitor for the treatment of COVID-19. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 829 (67 MB .mp3, 112 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv
TWiV 828: COVID-19 clinical update #88 with Dr. Daniel Griffin
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
In COVID-19 clinical update #88, Dr. Griffin covers vaccine protection among US veterans, absence of long COVID in vaccinated who are infected, single dose of REGEN-COV monoclonal antibody cocktail provides long term protection, and Pfizer protease inhibitor Paxlovid is 89% effective in preventing hospitalization or death. Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv
Red blood cells are immune sentinels
By Vincent Racaniello | | Immune, Information
Did you know that the innate immune DNA sensor TLR9 is on the membrane of red blood cells? I didn’t know that. To learn about why it’s there, listen to Immune episode #50. In that episode we review evidence that toll-like receptor 9 on the surface of red blood cells binds DNA, leading to uptake …
Pills for COVID-19
By Vincent Racaniello | | Basic virology, Information
Multiple vaccines have been developed that have made substantial contributions to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, but where are the antivirals? Only repurposed drugs have been used and not with much success. That situation seems about to change with the authorization of drugs that target the RNA polymerase (Molnupiravir) and a viral protease (Paxlovid). Molnupiravir is …
Spikevax Induces Durable Protection from the Delta Variant in Rhesus Macaques
By Gertrud U. Rey | | Basic virology, Gertrud Rey
Rhesus macaques that are vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 are protected from severe disease and probably transmit very little virus when infected with SARS-CoV-2 one year later.
David Tuller
Trial By Error: More Debate About Treatment of Severe ME/CFS
By David Tuller, DrPH Last month, Jonathan Edwards, an emeritus professor of medicine at University College London and an advocate for patients with ME/CFS, published a statement on a pre-print server about managing the nutritional needs of patients with severe disease. (I wrote about it here.) A few days ago, a group of parents and …
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Trial By Error: New Paper Seeks to Reframe Poor Findings in CODES Trial of CBT for Non-Epileptic Seizures
By David Tuller, DrPH The CODES trial investigated cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) as a treatment for dissociative seizures (DS), a sub-category of what is now called functional neurological disorder (FND). The intervention was a course of CBT specifically designed to address the variety of factors presumed to be triggering the seizures. (I have previously critiqued …
Trial By Error: Professor Edwards’ Take on Nutrition and Severe ME Cases
By David Tuller, DrPH Jonathan Edwards, a professor emeritus of medicine at University College London, has released a document involving the provision of care for people with severe ME, an issue at the core of some recent high-profile cases in England. The document, which Professor Edwards posted on a pre-print server, is called “Management of …
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Trial By Error: The Conversation Recycles Biopsychosocial Nonsense
By David Tuller, DrPH A new piece in The Conversation shows just how problematic it is when poorly done biopsychosocial studies claim to have documented that cognitive and/or behavioral therapies are effective—and when these questionable findings are published in high-impact journals. The headline of the article: “Success in treating persistent pain now offers hope for …
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Trial By Error: Some Things I Read This Week–Scathing “Effort Preference” Analysis; Kids with Long Covid; National Academies’ Long Covid Definition
By David Tuller, DrPH An in-depth pushback on “effort preference” When the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s long-delayed “deep phenotyping” study of a handful of ME/CFS patients was released earlier this year, the focus on a weird construct called “effort preference” sucked up all the attention–in part because the paper placed it front and center, …
Trial By Error: Athlete Oonagh Cousins on the Lightning Process
By David Tuller, DrPH Oonagh Cousins, a world-class rower who once dreamed of representing Great Britain in the Olympics, got sick early in the pandemic and has been suffering from Long Covid ever since. Her story was first covered by the BBC in November, 2020. A BBC article last year covered how her condition had …
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