Latest IMPH Community News

Some people suffer from vaccine guilt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In a lot of cases, securing a COVID-19 vaccination appointment is like winning the golden ticket. However, for some, the vaccination relief is followed by guilt after getting the shot. "They can feel a little guilty, that’s okay, in time as they realize that they are now insulated to a large degree against a very nasty situation that is developing COVID-19," Dr. Jim Jackson said, "They’re going to feel good, and in time their loved ones are going to get the vaccine."

VUMC awarded $34 million to lead nationwide convalescent plasma study

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been awarded a one-year, $34-million grant by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, to conduct a nationwide study of “convalescent plasma” as a treatment for COVID-19. The randomized, controlled trial will test whether infusions of plasma, the liquid part of blood collected from COVID-19 survivors, can help other hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The plasma contains antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

New analysis finds association between masking requirements and slower growth in COVID-19 hospitalizations

In a new analysis, researchers from the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found a relationship between the growth of hospitalizations and masking requirements put in place across the state. Hospitals that have more than 75% of their patients from areas without masking requirements in place have seen a relatively faster increase in patients with COVID-19 than hospitals with higher percentages of patients from areas with masking requirements in place.

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rising outside of Tennessee’s largest metro areas, appear stable in Nashville, Memphis

The COVID-19 pandemic is playing out in very different ways across the country and state by state. This is also true in Tennessee, according to a new analysis by faculty researchers at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

New Vanderbilt survey shows impact of COVID-19 on mental health

NASHVILLE, TENN. (WSMV) - A new survey out of Vanderbilt University is showing the toll the coronavirus pandemic is taking on our mental well-being.  Researchers polled parents with children under the age of 18 at the beginning of June.  They found that 27 percent of parents felt like their own mental health had worsened. 14 percent of those parents saw negative changes in their kids. 

COVID-19 and the brain: brain disorder delirium should be taken seriously | Opinion

Over the past six months, we have learned COVID-19 is not solely a lung disease, but a disease that involves the brain as well. Most patients with COVID-19 have delirium, which is the medical way of saying they are confused, can’t pay attention, and have trouble organizing their thinking.

Health, well-being and food security of families deteriorating under COVID-19 stress

The ongoing disruptive changes from efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 are having a substantial negative impact on the physical and mental well-being of parents and their children across the country, according to a new national survey published today in Pediatrics.

Investigational glaucoma drug studied to prevent respiratory distress in COVID-19 patients

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is evaluating razuprotafib, a drug being investigated for the treatment of glaucoma, in a new randomized, investigational trial for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in adult patients with moderate to severe COVID-19. “We urgently need to find effective treatments for COVID-19, especially for patients who develop severe lung injury from the virus,” said co-principal investigator Wesley Self, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

What does health care look like after COVID-19 pandemic?

In a new perspective piece published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Assistant Professor of Health Policy Sayeh Nikpay, PhD, joins fellow researchers and economists in projecting what health care delivery could look like after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.