This Week in Virology TWiV 1304: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin
Mar 14, 2026
Daniel Griffin, an infectious disease clinician who gives weekly clinical updates on respiratory viruses and patient care. He digs into global polio circulation and vaccination advice. Measles outbreaks and vaccination gaps in the US are highlighted. Discussions include zoonotic spillover without prior adaptation, RSV and flu trends, wastewater surveillance, Paxlovid access, and the shrinking of long COVID clinics.
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Use Primary Care To Rebuild Vaccine Confidence
- Use primary care clinicians as the main channel for correcting vaccine misinformation.
- Griffin emphasizes 86% of adults trust their doctor or nurse, so clinicians must proactively discuss vaccines with patients.
You Can’t Tell Respiratory Viruses By Exam Alone
- Viral respiratory infections present similarly across pathogens, so clinical exam alone cannot distinguish them.
- Multi-center study in hematologic patients found death rates similar across SARS-CoV, RSV, rhinovirus and influenza, emphasizing testing.
Zoonotic Viruses Often Jump Without Prior Adaptation
- Many zoonotic epidemic viruses show no signature of extensive pre-zoonotic adaptation.
- Cell phylogenetic analysis found Ebola, SARS-CoV and others jumped without prolonged evolution in intermediate hosts or lab passage.
