TWiV 983: One flu vaccine for them all with Scott Hensley

02/12/23 • 109 min

2 Listeners

Scott returns to TWiV to explain the development of an experimental mRNA vaccine that encodes hemagglutinin antigens against all known influenza A virus subtypes and influenza B virus lineages, and why he is worried about avian H5N1 influenza virus.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Scott Hensley

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Links for this episode

•Research assistant position at FDA (pdf) •Register for ASV 2023 •MicrobeTV Discord Server •Multivalent influenza mRNA vaccine (Science) •Influenza virus mRNA vaccines circumvent egg adaptation problems (J Virol) •Letters read on TWiV 983 •Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

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Dickson – Jazz Project: Guitar. Django Reinhardt; Pat Metheny. Signature album: Still Life Talking. Signature song: Last Train Home; Joe Pass (Ella Fitzgerald’s favorite guitar accompanist). Signature album: Virtuoso. Signature song: Round Midnight. Brianne – HHMI Virus Explorer Vincent – Chris Luno

Listener Picks

John – White-tail deer density and SARS-CoV-2 in white-tail deer Jessica – Classic cases revisited: Oscar the cat and predicting death

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Scott Hensley

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Weekly Picks

Listener Picks

John – White-tail deer density and SARS-CoV-2 in white-tail deer Jessica – Classic cases revisited: Oscar the cat and predicting death

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

Previous Episode

TWiV 982: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

1 Recommendations

In his weekly clinical update Dr. Griffin discusses the consistency of COVID-19 trial preprints with published reports and impact for decision making, the negative effect of preexisting immunity on Influenza vaccine responses transcends the impact of vaccine formulation type and vaccination history, highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection in farmed minks in Spain, Peru confirms H5N1 avian flu in marine mammals, prior vaccination enhances immune responses during SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection with early activation of memory T cells followed by production of potent neutralizing antibodies, bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine for prevention of COVID-19 and other respiratory tract infections in older adults with comorbidities, incidence of chronic spontaneous urticaria following receipt of the COVID-19 vaccine booster in Switzerland, relationship between immune response to SARS-CoV2 vaccines and development of breakthrough infection in solid organ transplant recipients, early treatment with pegylated interferon lambda for COVID-19, and how long-term high-dose immunoglobulin successfully treats long COVID patients with pulmonary, neurologic, and cardiologic symptoms.

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Links for this episode

Consistency of COVID-19 trial preprints with published reports (BMI)
Negative effect of preexisting immunity on Influenza vaccine (JID)
Highly pathogenic avian influenza infection in farmed minks (Eurosurveillance)
Peru confirms H5N1 avian flu in marine mammals (CIDRAP)
Prior vaccination enhances immune responses during SARS-CoV-2 infection (bioRxiv)
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine for prevention of COVID-19 and respiratory infections (CMI)
Incidence of spontaneous Urticaria following COVID-19 vaccine booster (JAMA)
Relationship between immune response to SARS-CoV2 vaccines and breakthrough infection in transplant recipients (CID)
Early treatment with Pegylated Interferon Lambda for COVID-19 (NEJM)
Long-term high-dose immunoglobulin successfully treats Long COVID patients (Frontiers)
Contribute to our ASTMH fundraiser at PWB
Dr. Griffin’s treatment guide (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 982
Don’t crush Paxlovid (pdf)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

Next Episode

TWiV 984: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update Dr. Griffin discusses the political polarization of COVID-19 treatments among physicians and laypeople in the United States, seven alternatives to evidence-based medicine, Malawi’s cholera death toll crosses 1,300 in its deadliest outbreak on record, impact of coronavirus infections on pediatric patients at a tertiary pediatric hospital, maternal mRNA COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and delta or omicron infection or hospital admission in infants, yes masks reduce the risk of spreading infection, despite a review saying they don’t, COVID-19 and airborne transmission: science rejected, lives lost. can society do better, what were the historical reasons for the resistance to recognizing airborne transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic, a randomized trial comparing Omicron-containing boosters with the original COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273, SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies after bivalent vs. monovalent booster, the impacts of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose separation and targeting on the COVID-19 epidemic in England, intra-host evolution provides for the continuous emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, real-world use of Nirmatrelvir–Ritonavir in outpatients with COVID-19 during the era of Omicron variants including BA.4 and BA.5 in Colorado, viral burden rebound in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 receiving oral antivirals in Hong Kong, and guidance on the use of convalescent plasma to treat immunocompromised patients with COVID-19.

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Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

The political polarization of COVID-19 treatments in the United States (PNAS)
Seven alternatives to evidence-based medicine (BMJ)
Malawi’s cholera death toll crosses 1,300 (CBC)
Impact of coronavirus infections on pediatric patients (JHI)
Maternal mRNA COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy (BMJ)
Yes, masks reduce the risk of spreading COVID (TVO)
COVID-19 and airborne transmission (IDSA)
What were the reasons for resistance to recognizing airborne transmission (IJIE)
Comparing Omicron-containing boosters with COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273 (medRxiv)
SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies after bivalent vs. monovalent booster (bioRxiv)
The impact of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose separation and targeting (Nature)
Intra-host evolution provides for the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants (ASM)
Real-world use of nirmatrelvir–ritonavir in outpatients with COVID-19 (The Lancet)
Viral rebound in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 receiving oral antivirals (The Lancet)
Guidance on the use of convalescent plasma to treat immunocompromised patients with COVID-19 (CID)
Contribute to our ASTMH fundraiser at PWB
Dr. Griffin’s treatment guide (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 984
Don’t crush Paxlovid (pdf)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!