News
MPH’s Schaffner: Zika Virus study at Rio Olympics will address basic scientific questions
Jul. 7, 2016—In an upcoming study announced on Tuesday, the U.S. Olympic Committee, in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, is hoping to volunteer its own staffers and U.S. Olympic athletes for a study that will help researchers answer some basic questions about the Zika virus.The participants themselves, however, present a limiting factor for the study, because they will provide...
JAMA: Gonzales Finds Higher Rates of Severe Psychological Distress and Impaired Physical Health among LGBT Populations
Jun. 28, 2016—In one of the largest, most representative health surveys conducted to date, lesbian, gay and bisexual adults reported substantially higher rates of severe psychological distress, heavy drinking and smoking, and impaired physical health than did heterosexuals. This study adds to the previous research on LGBT health disparities and has important implications for policy and practice,”...
Schaffner: Flu vaccine supply may be disrupted with new panel ruling
Jun. 27, 2016—On Wednesday, a federal advisory committee on immunization voted to retract its endorsement of the vaccine after preliminary CDC study results presented to the committee showed it provided no protection from the flu strain that made most people sick last year. With many doctors, hospitals and flu clinics placing their orders for flu vaccine early...
Buntin: State drug monitoring programs can prevent one opioid-related overdose death every two hours
Jun. 24, 2016—The implementation of state prescription drug monitoring programs was associated with the prevention of approximately one opioid-related overdose death every two hours on average nationwide, according to a new Vanderbilt-led study released this week in the journal Health Affairs.Senior author, Melinda Buntin, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt, said...
Update from the field: Integrated approach to health touches all aspects of daily life in Lwala, Kenya
Jun. 22, 2016—Frist Global Health Leader and Vanderbilt MPH student, Christopher Wahlfeld, explores how an integrated approach to community health touches all aspects of daily life for the Hope Through Healing Hands blog.
MPH’s Schaffner: Too early to change guidelines based on new preliminary Zika study
Jun. 16, 2016—Zika virus infection during the third trimester of pregnancy may pose only minor risk for brain abnormalities in infants, according to a preliminary study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said the early findings seemed promising but that it was...
JAMA: MPH’s Ray lead author on VUMC study pointing to other death risks from opioids
Jun. 15, 2016—Deaths from prescribed opioids may be higher than previously known, according to a study from Vanderbilt University Medical Center with lead author Wayne Ray, that found that users had an increased risk of cardiovascular death. Long-lasting opioids, often used to treat chronic pain such as back pain, led to a 64 percent increase in the risk...
MPH’s Kripalani, Zhu and Self: Uninsured heart attack patients more likely to be transferred to another facility
Jun. 13, 2016—Patients who present to an emergency department with a type of heart attack known as a STEMI and do not have insurance are much more likely to be transferred from one medical facility to another than patients who do have insurance, according to a study published in The American Journal of Cardiology. Contributors to this...
MPH’s Schaffner praises new W.H.O. Zika Advice
Jun. 13, 2016—People living in areas where the Zika virus is circulating should consider delaying pregnancy to avoid having babies with birth defects, the World Health Organization has concluded. Dr. William Schaffner, head of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, called the W.H.O.’s advice “excellent.” “Now we just have to provide both the education and...
In MMWR, MPH grad and EIS officer Monique Foster reports on Hep C virus transmission in California
Jun. 3, 2016—Monique A. Foster, M.D., M.P.H. (class of 2014) is currently an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
MPH faculty member William Schaffner on the latest superbug and antibiotic resistance
May. 31, 2016—The first U.S. case of a bacterial infection that can’t be treated by last-resort antibiotics has been reported in a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are difficult to treat and have become a grave — and growing — concern. The CDC estimates that at least two million people are infected with such bacteria each year, and 23,000 die. To better understand what...
MPH’s Dupont weighs in on new study linking common gene variants to breast cancer
May. 27, 2016—"The bottom line is, this study provides evidence that, on a population level, a certain number of breast cancer cases would be prevented if women did these things," said William Dupont, Ph.D., a professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn.
MPH’s Schaffner: “Molecular fingerprints” used in latest Listeria outbreak to find origin
May. 24, 2016—A massive voluntary recall of multiple food items that was implemented after a relatively small listeria outbreak has highlighted how epidemiologists are now using DNA to connect seemingly unrelated infections and improve food safety, according to food safety experts. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said the introduction...
MPH’s Melinda Buntin brings Washington expertise to Vanderbilt’s Department of Health Policy
May. 19, 2016—Today health care accounts for nearly 20 percent of the total U.S. gross domestic product—about $3 trillion of economic activity annually. It’s also the largest item in the federal budget, making up 28 percent of all government spending. With a greater focus on how the health care system functions, particularly in the wake of the...
MPH’s Talbot: More medical centers move to mandatory flu vaccination policies
May. 13, 2016—Mandatory vaccination policies may encourage more healthcare workers to get annual flu shots and help prevent the spread of influenza to patients, a study in one Texas health system suggests.A growing number of medical centers are moving to mandatory flu vaccination policies as part of a larger infection control effort, said Dr. Tom Talbot, chief...