News
VIGH awarded $3 million for building research capacity in Nigeria and Mozambique
Jun. 12, 2020—Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) has received a new research training grant and a renewal for an existing training program from the Fogarty International Center (FIC) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to build HIV-focused research capacity with key partners in Nigeria and Mozambique. Vanderbilt MPH Program faculty members Muktar Aliyu, MD, DrPH, professor...
Schaffner comments on new WHO face mask guidelines
Jun. 9, 2020—The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday announced changes to its guidelines on who should wear a mask during the Covid-19 pandemic and where they should wear it. The new guidance recommends that the general public wear cloth masks made from at least three layers of fabric “on public transport, in shops, or in other confined or crowded environments.”...
The COVID-19 vaccine could consist of two shots says Edwards
Jun. 8, 2020—A vaccine against the coronavirus may not be as simple as one jab and you’re immune. There’s a high likelihood an eventual vaccine will require a two-dose series, a month or so apart, with the possibility of a booster several years later, adding to the complexity and cost of administration and distribution. “The MERS serology data suggest that...
Stevenson discusses the shrinking nursing home population
Jun. 8, 2020—The coronavirus pandemic dealt a crushing blow to nursing homes across the U.S., driving down their occupancy by nearly 100,000 residents between the end of 2019 and late May, according to new federal data. The data gives the public its first broad look into individual nursing homes and sheds new light on the scale of...
Researchers face challenges about how kids spread COVID-19 says Edwards
Jun. 3, 2020—As states reopen, the coming months bring the prospect of gatherings at pools, playgrounds and even amusement parks. But in this summer of COVID-19, many parents are left wondering what their kids can safely do. There isn’t a satisfactory answer, because there’s still so much unknown about the coronavirus in regards to children. While studies...
Dusetzina: Drug price hikes outpace Medicare Part D improvements
Jun. 3, 2020—Annual price increases for specialty rheumatology drugs are outpacing savings gained from the closure of the Medicare Part D coverage gap (the “donut hole”) – according to an analysis published in JAMA Open by a pair of researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The researchers found that when the coverage gap began closing (between 2010 and 2011),...
NAS trend stabilized says Leech
Jun. 3, 2020—A new analysis out of Vanderbilt University Medical Center found rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) increased five-and-a-half fold between 2004 and 2016, but have remained steady since 2014. The data were published in Health Affairs. “Evidence is beginning to show that we’re holding down the rising trend in NAS,” said first author Ashley Leech, Ph.D., an...
MPH Alumni discuss Kawasaki Disease
Jun. 3, 2020—In mid-May, the CDC established a case definition for a new illness linked to COVID-19, referred to as PMIS (pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome) or MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children). From the onset, reports of PMIS noted that it resembles Kawasaki disease, a rare acute vasculitis that primarily affects children under five years-of-age. “About four weeks after their...
Schaffner comments on the spread of COVID-19 in mass gatherings
Jun. 2, 2020—Protests erupting across the nation over the past week — and law enforcement’s response to them — are threatening to upend efforts by health officials to track and contain the spread of coronavirus just as those efforts were finally getting underway. It’s unclear if the protests themselves will trigger large new outbreaks. The protests were outside, where infections...
New TN economic activity COVID-19 modeling report released by Graves
Jun. 2, 2020—Tennesseans didn’t wait for an order from the state to start avoiding exposure to COVID-19 and they haven’t rushed back out since the lifting of safer-at-home orders – especially in metro areas. “Once the virus becomes entrenched in a community, it has this economic contagion as well,” said John Graves, director of Vanderbilt’s Center for...
WSJ talks to Stevenson about nursing-home finances during COVID-19
Jun. 1, 2020—The biggest U.S. nursing-home company said its operations are being pressured by fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, pointing to a sharp drop in occupancy and rising expenses that are rippling through the entire elder-care sector. Genesis Healthcare Inc. said in an earnings call Wednesday that it had seen cases of Covid-19, the coronavirus illness, in 187 of...
Asymptomatic COVID-19 cases are common says Schaffner
Jun. 1, 2020—New estimates of the number of asymptomatic people with the coronavirus suggest that “silent” COVID-19 is much more prevalent than once thought, according to two studies published Wednesday. “Many people still haven’t grasped the notion that asymptomatic people can be so common, and they wonder why it is they have to wear the mask when...
Patel and Nordness to test cognitive rehab therapy for ICU survivors
May. 28, 2020—Vanderbilt University Medical Center will study adult survivors of medical and surgical intensive care at high risk for long-term cognitive impairment to see if computerized cognitive rehabilitation (CCR) is effective in improving cognition in ICU survivors who often have trouble doing complex tasks, maintaining their finances and staying employed. MPH alumnus Mayur Patel, M.D., M.P.H., associate...
McGinnis: Caring for orphans during COVID-19
May. 22, 2020—Katie McGinnis is the director of psychosocial service for Family Legacy, a large nonprofit that serves 15,000 orphaned and vulnerable children in Zambia. Her team is providing developmentally appropriate COVID-19 disease education resources and have even left their own families to move into the residential care facility for the duration of their lockdown (at least three...
Buntin comments on COVID-19 and early health system supplies data
May. 22, 2020—Some 1.5 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the U.S., and about 352,000 of those patients were in the state of New York. Researchers with the Northwell Health system, which has provided care for more than 20% of COVID-19 patients in the state, have helped physicians learn who these patients are. “The findings...