COVID hospitalizations, deaths, and policy gaps

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin and Vincent Racaniello talk about the health misconceptions that RFK Jr continues to perpetuate and how to combat them, first cases of highly pathogenic influenza in the California elephant seal population before Dr. Griffin deep dives into economic costs of not vaccinating against measles, the measles outbreak in South Carolinaand Utah, ICE detention centers, lack of accurate reporting may prevent the US from losing its status as a country that eliminated measles, immune amnesia from measles infection, influenza strain selection for the 2026-2027 vaccine,  recent statistics for RSV, influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infections, the Wasterwater Scan dashboard, Johns Hopkins measles tracker, where to find PEMGARDA, how to access and pay for Paxlovid, when to use steroids for treating influenza, long COVID treatment center, where to go for answers to your long COVID questions, clinical trials for long COVID treatment including GLP-1 inhibitors and IVIG and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.

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• Kristen Panthagani, MD, PhD (Substack)
• You can know things! (Substack)
• Kmpanthagani: Kristen Panthagani, MD, PhD Instagram)
• Kristen Panthagani, MD, PhD kmpanthagani (Threads)
• Psychological inoculation improves resilience against misinformation on social media (Science)
• 5 Logical fallacies in the era of RFK Jr. (Substack)
• Tecovirimat for the Treatment of Mpox (NEJM)
• California records avian flu in northern elephant seals (CIDRAP)
• First Cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Northern Elephant Seals Confirmed in California (UC Davis)
• Wastewater for measles (WasterWater Scan)
• The health and economic repercussions of declining MMR coverage in the United States (medRxiv)
• 2025 measles resurgence carries estimated $244 million price tag (CIDRAP)
• US builds case to retain measles elimination status as infections mount (Reuters)
• Expert meeting on US measles elimination status delayed to November (Reuters)
• ‘Nearly Every’ Child With Measles Suffers This Hidden Threat (Medscape)
• CDC acting director Bhattacharya urges use of measles vaccine (Reuters)
• Measles cases and outbreaks (CDC Rubeola)
• 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)
• Escobar: ICE sending sick migrants to El Paso hospitals for quarantine (BorderReport)
• 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)
• 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)
• Weekly surveillance report: cliff notes (CDC FluView)
• 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)
• Respiratory Diseases (Yale School of Public Health)
• RSV Detection and Antibiotic Prescribing Decisions for Pediatric Respiratory Tract Infections (JAMA Network)
• 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)
• EUAfor 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)
• 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)
• Anticoagulationguidelines (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
• SARS-CoV-2Persistence and the Gut Microbiota: New Insights into Long COVID Pathogenesis (MDPI)
• Neither Metformin nor Ursodeoxycholic Acid Effectively Treats Postacute Sequelae of COVID-19 (Annals of Internal Medicine)
• Long COVID: RECOVER-TLC Clinical Trials (Foundation for the National Institute of Health)
• Design and rationale of RECOVER-AUTONOMIC: A randomized platform trial evaluating interventions for Long COVID postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (American Heart Journal)
• Dr. Ruth’s Newsletter: COVID, Flu & Health News, 3/1/26 (Substack) Reaching out to US house representative
• Letters read on TWiV 1302
• 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 daniel@microbe.tv

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