TWiV 1350: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update, Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello are perplexed by the state of global public health as malaria, cholera and other infectious diseases are spread by civil warfare, the lack of manpower at the CDC to implement Congressional health programs, the first cancer mRNA vaccine resulting from a Merck and Moderna collaboration, how cyclosporiasis and screwworm outbreaks continue, FDA approval of new drugs against screwworm and critical policy decisions to control the Ebola outbreak in the Congo, before Dr. Griffin deep dives into the measles outbreak, recent statistics on RSV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 infections and the drop in vaccination rates in the US, how schools are the source of measles infection, how vaccines only prevent severe disease not transmission as trafficking of measles on vaccinated people begins to be acknowledged, to access and pay for Paxlovid, what to know about the mRNA flu vaccine, where to go for answers about long COVID-19, clinical guidelines for treating long COVID, three myths of respiratory disease and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.

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Links for this episode

• Myanmar's Civil War Pushes Infectious Disease Over Its Borders (NY Times)
• Alzheimer's disease (AP News)
• US adult cigarette smoking rate hits another all-time low (AP News)
• The CDC has zombie programs. Congress funds them, but few people are left to do the work (AP News)
• Merck, Moderna's personalized cancer vaccine slows recurrence in phase 3, setting up approval push (FIERCE Biotech)
• Surveillance of Cyclosporiasis (CDC: Cyclosporiasis)
• Infectious DiseaseOutbreaks (Michigan: Health & Human Services)
• Cyclosporiasis Cases in North Carolina (North Carolina: Division of Public Health)
• Cyclospora Infection (Cyclosporiasis) (NYC Health)
• Missouri Communicable Disease Report (2026) (Missouri Health)
• TWiP 285: Why is cyclospora hard to contain: Parasitologists explain the 2026 US outbreak (microbeTV:TWiP)
• Dashboard SCREWWORM.Gov (USDA: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service)
• CDC Activates Emergency Operations Center for New World Screwworm Response (CDC Newsroom)
• FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization for Drug to Treat New World Screwworm in Dogs and Puppies (FDA)
• FDA grants emergency use authorization for another New World screwworm treatment (CIDRAP)
• Ebola dashboard (ebola.fyi)
• EBOLA: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2026 (WHO)
• Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak Democratic Republic of the Congo (WHO: Democratic Republic of Congo)
• Ebola Outbreak: Current Situation (CDC:Ebola)
• Three Months into the Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak: Now is the time for Decisive Action (AfricaCDC)
• Wastewater for measles (WasterWater Scan)
• Measles cases and outbreaks (CDC Rubeola)
• Big outbreak, bright lights…Measles Dashboard (South Carolina Department of Public Health)
• Utah measles outbreak response (Utah Department of Health and Human Services)
• Utah Measles Dashboard (Utah Department of Health and Human Services)
• Measles (VDH: Virginia Department of Health)
• Tracking Measles Cases in the U.S. (Johns Hopkins)
• HAP's Latest News Pa. Launches New Measles Dashboard (Hospital + HealthSystem Association of Pennsylvania)
• 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)
• Do vaccinated cases transmit measles? A systematic review and meta-analysis (Expert Review of Vaccines)
• County, district and community-level measles transmission in the United States in 2013−2025 (Nat Medicine)
• Dozens of States Tried to Roll Back Vaccine Laws. Here's How They Fared. (NY Times)
• More U.S. Parents Opting Children Out of Vaccine Requirements, C.D.C. Reports (NY Times)
• The threat of more, expanded measles outbreaks looms with start of school (CIDRAP)
• Influenza: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
• US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
• Respiratory virus activity levels (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
• Flu vaccine recommendations: Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee March 12, 2026 Meeting Announcement (FDA)
• WHO updates all 3 viral strains to be included in fall flu shots (CIDRAP)
• FDA vaccine advisers recommend adding subclade K to fall shots (CIDRAP)
• Weekly surveillance report: clift notes (CDC FluView)
• What to Know About the mRNA Flu Vaccine, Newly Approved by the FDA (JAMA)
• Oseltamivir for Critically Ill Patients with Influenza: A Randomised Trial (LANCET)
• 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)
• Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in children younger than 5 years in 2019: a systematic analysis (LANCET)
• A national programme of bivalent prefusion F vaccination in pregnancy and protection against respiratory syncytial virus hospitalisation in infants until age 6 months in the UK: a multicentre, prospective, test-negative, case–control study (LANCET)
• Real-world studies show RSV immunizations protect newborns in their first year of life (CIDRAP)
• 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)
• Where to get pemgarda (Pemgarda)
• EUA for 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)
• Trump Officials Falsely Connect Covid Vaccines to Miscarriage (NY Times)
• 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
• Beyond the acute illness: three myths about viral respiratory infection (JID)
• Reaching out to US house representative
• Letters read on TWiV 1350
• 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 [email protected]

Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.