TWiV 1302: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

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Mar 7, 2026

Daniel Griffin, infectious disease clinician who provides weekly clinical updates, tackles rising measles outbreaks and the hidden costs of declining MMR coverage. He covers H5N1 in California elephant seals, current influenza strain choices, RSV and testing trends, COVID hospital data and pediatric vaccine access, plus the latest on long COVID trials and how to counter misinformation.

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ADVICE

Vaccinate To Avoid Huge Measles Costs

Vaccination prevents large measles outbreaks and reduces economic burden; declining MMR coverage greatly increases costs.
A medRxiv analysis estimated $244 million national burden in 2025 and up to $7.77 billion over five years under decreased coverage scenarios.

INSIGHT

US Measles Elimination Status Under Review

The U.S. likely lost measles elimination status due to rising cases, but formal determination was delayed for more genomic analysis.
CDC postponed the expert meeting to November while cases continued to rise and exceed prior thresholds.

INSIGHT

Measles Causes Immune Amnesia And Lasting Risk

Measles causes immune amnesia, raising risk of other infections for months to years after illness.
Infected unvaccinated children had 2.7× hospitalization risk and sustained higher anti-infective prescriptions for up to five years.

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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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Links for this episode

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.