Virology
An open letter to Psychological Medicine about “recovery” and the PACE trial
By Vincent Racaniello | | Uncategorized
Sir Robin Murray and Dr. Kenneth Kendler Psychological Medicine Cambridge University Press University Printing House Shaftesbury Road Cambridge CB2 8BS UK Dear Sir Robin Murray and Dr. Kendler: In 2013, Psychological Medicine published an article called Recovery from chronic fatigue syndrome after treatments given in the PACE trial.[1] In the paper, White et al. reported that graded exercise therapy (GET) and cognitive …
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TWiV 432: Conjunction junction, what’s your function?
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology, Uncategorized
The TWiVites discuss Zika virus seroprevalence in wild monkeys, Zika virus mRNA vaccines, and a gamete fusion protein inherited from viruses. You can find TWiV #432 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 432 (65 MB .mp3, 108 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV!
Did viruses enable sex?
By Vincent Racaniello | | Basic virology, Information
A key step in sexual reproduction is the fusion of haploid cells to form a diploid zygote, yet the molecular mechanism underlying this joining of cells is poorly understood. Two studies reveal amazing similarities between proteins required for fusion of sperm and egg, and virus with host cells. A screen for genes that cause male sterility in the flowering plant Arabidopsis led to …
TWiV 431: Niemann-Pick of the weak
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
The TWiVirions reveal bacteriophage genes that control eukaryotic reproduction, and the biochemical basis for increased Ebolavirus glycoprotein activity during the recent outbreak. You can find TWiV #431 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 431 (71 MB .mp3, 118 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV!
A virus that controls reproduction
By Vincent Racaniello | | Basic virology, Information
The obligate intracellular bacteria Wolbachia (pictured), which infects 40% of arthropods, can manipulate its host to ensure its maintenance in the population. An example is cytoplasmic incompatibility, which occurs when infected males mate with uninfected females, and causes embryonic lethality (mating with an infected female produces viable offspring). Two Wolbachia genes responsible for this phenotype have been …
TWiV 430: The persistence of herpesvirus
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
The TWiX cabal discuss sexual transmission of Zika virus in mice, and how immune escape enables herpes simplex virus escape from latency. You can find TWiV #430 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 430 (63 MB .mp3, 104 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV!
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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