News
Rise in U.S. measles cases attributable to parents delaying and withholding routine MMR vaccines, says Schaffner
Apr. 18, 2024—Nearly a third of all U.S. measles cases in the past four years happened during a three-month stretch in 2024, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rise in measles, a highly infectious virus, is troubling, experts warned. Officials attribute it to the drop in the U.S. vaccination rate for the deadly...
Dusetzina unpacks variance of insulin costs for Medicare Part-D beneficiaries
Apr. 16, 2024—The cost of insulin in the United States has risen considerably in recent years, with some estimates finding that Americans have paid around 10 times more for the drug than people in other developed countries. But recent changes by the government and drug manufacturers have started to drive insulin prices down, something President Joe Biden often mentions...
Aliyu discusses future of Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health
Apr. 15, 2024—Muktar Aliyu, MD, DrPH, MPH, is director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) and professor of Health Policy and Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He holds the Endowed Directorship in Global Health. VIGH facilitates the expansion and coordination of global health research, technical assistance and training initiatives at VUMC. What do you see as...
Horst introduces billable asynchronous eVisits as a care option at VUMC to facilitate telehealth communication efforts
Apr. 11, 2024—New program establishes eVisit protocol using asynchronous messaging that may address the concern or lead to a more in-depth telehealth or in-person appointment. Health care delivery and communications with patients through online portals has grown immensely in recent years — and in some ways has increased the complexity of interactions between clinicians and patients. To...
Talbot appointed as chair to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for the CDC
Apr. 10, 2024—Infectious diseases researcher H. Keipp Talbot, MD, MPH, has been appointed chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ACIP advises the CDC on adult and childhood immunization, including the age when a vaccine should be given, the number of doses needed, the amount of...
Schaffner weighs in on rise of bacterial meningitis cases
Apr. 8, 2024—An increase in cases of bacterial meningococcal disease has prompted federal health officials to issue a health alert, warning healthcare providers in the United States to be on the lookout for people with symptoms of the rare but potentially fatal illness. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 143 people in...
Gun manufacturers can’t avoid responsibility for their role in gun violence, says Rogers
Apr. 3, 2024—Do corporations have a responsibility to society if their products are being misused and causing extreme harm? We have faced this question before. In 1965, activist Ralph Nader wrote a book critiquing the auto industry’s safety record. In response, Congress passed a law that led to major improvements in car safety. Today, the same question...
NIH selects Dr. Kathleen Neuzil as director of the Fogarty International Center and NIH associate director for international research
Apr. 2, 2024—National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D., has named Kathleen M. Neuzil, M.D., as the 13th director of the Fogarty International Center (FIC) and NIH associate director for international research. Dr. Neuzil will be the first woman to hold the permanent FIC directorship since the center’s founding in 1968. She is currently...
Fecal microbiota transplants have been highly successful in treating patients who are ill with Clostridioides difficile, says Nicholson
Apr. 1, 2024—Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) has been highly successful in treating patients who are ill with Clostridioides difficile. However, research is just beginning to determine its potential for treating other inflammatory conditions. At Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, pediatric gastroenterologist Maribeth R. Nicholson, M.D., M.P.H., was the senior author on a Cochrane Review article that synthesized the findings of 12...
Talbot, principal investigator of the Emerging Infections Program, expands disease surveillance research with new grant from the CDC
Mar. 28, 2024—The Tennessee Emerging Infections Program has been awarded a new five-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue infectious disease surveillance research that has been conducted since 1999, and has expanded to include COVID, Mpox and HPV surveillance into oropharyngeal cancers. The EIP program, which includes more than 20 faculty...
Survey results from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy reveal over 40% of Tennessee families with children say they are food insecure; 70% have changed spending on food, says Fritz
Mar. 27, 2024—This year’s Vanderbilt Child Health Poll shows that over 40% of Tennessee families report they are food insecure ― a similar proportion from last year. Most families (71%) say they have continued to change food spending habits due to high prices. The annual poll from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy asked more than 1,000 Tennessee parents a...
Roumie discusses risks associated with low-level LDL cholesterol
Mar. 26, 2024—You probably know that having high cholesterol—more specifically, a high level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—isn’t a good thing. It increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other problems. That’s why it’s important to lower LDL cholesterol to a healthy level if yours is elevated. But with so much emphasis on low LDL, it’s natural...
Fill continues to lead disease surveillance efforts at the Tennessee Department of Health as deputy state epidemiologist
Mar. 25, 2024—On March 13, 2020, the Department of Health Policy established an ad-hoc committee of researchers, clinicians, and others who shifted their daily focus to advising and informing local, state, and federal leaders on the response to the global pandemic. A novel coronavirus was sweeping the globe, shutting down businesses, schools, and transforming how health and...
High costs and extensive application processes are obstructing patient access to Paxlovid, Pfizer’s new medication for COVID-19, says Schaffner
Mar. 18, 2024—Evangelical minister Eddie Hyatt believes in the healing power of prayer but “also the medical approach.” So on a February evening a week before scheduled prostate surgery, he had his sore throat checked out at an emergency room near his home in Grapevine, Texas. A doctor confirmed that Hyatt had covid-19 and sent him to...
Rosenbloom to chair scientific review committee at National Library of Medicine
Mar. 11, 2024—Trent Rosenbloom, MD, MPH, professor of Biomedical Informatics, Medicine, and Pediatrics, on July 1 will begin a one-year term as chair of the Biomedical Informatics, Library and Data Sciences Review Committee of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Founded in 1836 and incorporated into the National Institutes of Health in 1968, the NLM is a research award-making...