News
NYT discusses new U.S. ‘Radical Expansion’ plans of coronavirus testing with Schaffner
Mar. 3, 2020—The F.D.A. announced that it would allow hundreds of labs to test for the virus, while the Trump administration said it was distributing tens of thousands of testing kits. The kits had three components but some of the components were producing an inconclusive result for many public health labs using the test. On Thursday, the...
Graves says that U.S. health care system is not designed to deal with a pandemic
Mar. 3, 2020—One of the best things you can do to fend off the coronavirus is to stay home when you’re sick. Problem is, millions of working Americans don’t get paid sick days. A stunning 70% of low-wage workers and one of three workers in the private sector have no access to paid sick time. All told,...
Neuzil comments on WHO COVID-19 Advisor selection
Mar. 2, 2020—Samba Sow, MD, MSc, FASTMH, director general of the Center for Vaccine Development in Mali (CVD-Mali), and adjunct professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), was appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to serve as a special envoy on issues related to coronavirus COVID-19. Sow was named by WHO director-general...
Schaffner answers the public’s questions about the coronavirus with NBC News
Mar. 2, 2020—As concerns grow over the coronavirus outbreak, Americans have important questions about how to keep their families healthy. Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University went to field questions from downtown Nashville.
ABC News talks to Schaffner about how Americans can prepare for the coronavirus
Mar. 2, 2020—The coronavirus, or COVID-19, has infected dozens of Americans and thousands more across the world. While scientists are working to contain the outbreak and come up with effective treatments, health experts say people can still prepare and guard against infection. ABC News spoke with health experts to provide the latest information on how to stay safe as the disease...
Schaffner discusses the public buying masks amid coronavirus fears
Mar. 2, 2020—Panic over the novel coronavirus is hitting a fever pitch in the US. And despite repeated pleas from health officials not to purchase them, Americans can’t stop snatching up masks and respirators. When it comes to hysteria and panic, though, reason takes a backseat. “This is a psychological thing,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive...
NBC News talks to Schaffner about the coronavirus mortality rate in Iran
Feb. 28, 2020— Iran has the highest reported number of deaths from the coronavirus outside China, raising questions about how the government is handling the public health crisis and whether the often secretive regime has been fully transparent about the extent of the outbreak. Iran’s health ministry spokesman said on Thursday that 26 Iranians have died out of a total...
Everson and Butler look at hospitals adopting more tech in health information exchange
Feb. 27, 2020—Among 1,917 hospitals across the U.S. from 2014-2016, there was a consistent increase in engagement and adoption of types health information exchange, but no single one of those tools provided high levels of usable, integrated health information. The conclusion comes in a new study published by Jordan Everson, PhD, assistant professor of Health Policy, and Evan Butler,...
The New York Times discusses a coronavirus false-positive with Schaffner
Feb. 26, 2020—Passengers aboard the cruise ship Westerdam who have returned to the United States no longer need to isolate themselves and can resume normal activities, despite the fact that one passenger tested positive for the new coronavirus in Malaysia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised. A spokesman for the agency said on Saturday...
Schaffner comments on the risk of the coronavirus spreading in high populated areas
Feb. 26, 2020—FOR infectious disease experts, it’s unsurprising that the current coronavirus, which causes the disease named COVID-19, originated in a city. “In cities the potential for infectious diseases to spread is massive, simply because people are so close to each other and have such prolonged face-to-face contact, “says Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University....
Buntin named a Nashville Business Journal 2020 Woman of Influence
Feb. 25, 2020—From inspirational leaders to community supporters to top executives, meet the Nashville Business Journal’s 2020 Women of Influence winners. Melinda Buntin, Ph.D. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Mike Curb professor of health policy and chair, department of health policy Melinda Buntin, Ph.D. is the chair of the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She previously served...
Schaffner talks to Vox about usual symptoms ahead of coronavirus pandemic
Feb. 24, 2020—During the last two months, as the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak spiraled into a global threat, countries around the world have scrambled to impose travel bans, quarantine millions, and isolate sick people in an attempt to stop the spread of the new virus. This coronavirus is still very new, and we don’t know its entire spectrum of illness...
Creech and Schaffner discuss record-breaking child deaths this year from flu
Feb. 24, 2020—So far this season,105 children have died from the flu, according to data released Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is the highest number of child flu deaths at this point in the season since the CDC started keeping records in 2004, except for the 2009 flu pandemic. It has been an...
Patients can spread coronavirus without showing symptoms says Schaffner
Feb. 24, 2020—A 20-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, traveled 400 miles(675 km) north to Anyang where she infected five relatives, without ever showing signs of infection, Chinese scientists reported on Friday, offering new evidence that the virus can be spread asymptomatically. The case study, published in the Journal of the American...
Newsweek discusses the coronavirus with Schaffner
Feb. 21, 2020—COVID-19, a new coronavirus known to cause pneumonia, has infected more than 75,000 people and killed more than 2,000 since it was first identified in humans in December. WHO initially only reported cases that were confirmed by laboratory results, but on Monday, it announced that its future situation reports will also include people who were...