Podcasts · This Week in Virology

TWiV 1280: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

20 Dec 2025 · 37 min · Episode 1280

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin and Vincent Racaniello protest Vinjay Prasad, head of CBER FDA Nov memo stating administration of the COVID-19 vaccine resulted in 10 children’s deaths, but are cautiously delighted by the December memo from those in CBER who dispute this data-less claim, how in 31 states pertussis vaccination rates have declined before Dr. Griffin then deep dives into recent statistics on the measles epidemic, RSV, influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infections, the Wasterwater Scan dashboard, Johns Hopkins measles tracker, of clinical outcomes of oseltamivir versus baloxavir for treating influenza infection, number deaths associated with COVID-19 hospitalizations and disease associated economic burden, where to find PEMGARDA, how to access and pay for Paxlovid, long COVID treatment center, where to go for answers to your long COVID questions, how the German government is committed to research into long COVID and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.

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Links for this episode

• Industry laments Prasad vaccine memo (Politico) • Scoop: FDA vaccine chief’s memo cited 10 pediatric Covid-19 vaccine deaths—but the agency’s own analysis found 0–7 (Inside Medicine) • Whooping cough cases soar as vaccination rates drop (NBC News) • Marburg Outbreak in Ethiopia: Current Situation (CDC: Marburg Virus Disease) • Wastewater for measles (WasterWater Scan) • Measles cases and outbreaks (CDC Rubeola) • 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) • Hundreds quarantined as South Carolina measles outbreak accelerates (Washington Post) • Influenza: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan) • USrespiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses) • Respiratory virus activity levels (CDC Respiratory Illnesses) • Weekly surveillance report: clift notes (CDC FluView) • In call with clinicians, CDC recommends flu vaccines widely (CIDRAP) • Influenza Vaccine Composition for the 2025-2026 U.S. Influenza Season (FDA) • Comparison of clinical outcomes of oseltamivir versus baloxavir in outpatients with influenza: a retrospective cohort analysis (International Journal of Infectious Diseases) • RSV: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan) • Respiratory Diseases (Yale School of Public Health) • USrespiratory 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) • Antigenic and Virological Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Variant BA.3.2, XFG, and NB.1.8.1 (bioRxiV) • Effectiveness of 2024–2025 COVID-19 Vaccines in Children in the United States — VISION, August 29, 2024–September 2, 2025 (CDC:MMWR) • Mortality following recovery from COVID-19 hospitalization: A long-term cohort study (International Journal of Infectious Diseases) • COVID hospitalization tied to 69% higher risk of death for up…

Links in the notes 20

• https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-virology/id1176779065
• https://www.microbe.tv/contribute
• https://www.politico.com/newsletters/prescription-pulse/2025/12/02/industry-laments-prasad-vaccine-memo-00672234
• https://insidemedicine.substack.com/p/scoop-fda-vaccine-chiefs-memo-cited
• https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/whooping-cough-vaccines-cases-us-pertussis-rcna248746
• https://www.cdc.gov/marburg/situation-summary/index.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html
• https://publichealth.jhu.edu/ivac/resources/us-measles-tracker
• https://b2927012.smushcdn.com/2927012/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/measles_vax_rec_2.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1
• https://health-infobase.canada.ca/measles-rubella/
• https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/measles
• https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/measles/
• https://www.cdc.gov/measles/hcp/vaccine-considerations/index.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/measles/index.html
• https://fda-my.sharepoint.com/Users/Amy/Desktop/Measles%20(CDC%20Measles%20(Rubeola))
• https://www.cdc.gov/pinkbook/hcp/table-of-contents/chapter-13-measles.html#cdc_report_pub_study_section_9-contraindications-and-precautions-to-vaccination
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236284/#:~:text=The%20evidence%20favors%20acceptance%20of,in%20temporal%20relation%20to%20vaccination
• https://www.idsociety.org/public-health/measles/know-the-facts/
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264410X15006556?via%3Dihub
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/12/10/south-carolina-measles-outbreak-quarantine/

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