Vaccines are on the horizon. Will the public accept them? School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Dean Thomas LaVeist discusses some of the public’s skepticism surrounding the acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine and the need for improved communications. MPR News, October 30, 2020.
What Fans of ‘Herd Immunity’ Don’t Tell You, A proposal to let people with low risk of infection live without constraint could lead to a million or more preventable deaths. John Barry of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine writes in The New York Times, October 19, 2020.
Research supports airborne spread of COVID-19 indoors, Changwei Li, MD, epidemiology professor at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, is co-author of a study that linked a COVID-19 outbreak in China to a patient who was riding a bus and likely spread the virus through the bus’s air conditioning system. Healthcare Purchasing News, October 5, 2020.
History tells us what a virus can do to a president, John Barry, professor at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, writes an opinion piece on President Trump’s recent #COVID19 diagnosis and discusses late President Woodrow Wilson’s illness during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Washington Post, October 4, 2020.
Some Saints fans will return to Superdome Sunday to test COVID procedures, Lina Moses, epidemiologist and disease ecologist, discusses the guidelines in which the Saints organization is allowing a limited number of the fans to watch an upcoming game in the Superdome. WWLTV, September 24, 2020.
Some people are leery about a COVID-19 vaccine; a local expert says messaging will be key, Charles Stoecker, a Tulane University health economist at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and who has worked at the Centers for Disease Control and does research on vaccination policy, talks about how it is important that the public is convinced that a COVID-19 vaccine has been thoroughly developed and tested. Fox 8, September 11, 2020.
The 'nightmare' winter: What happens when Covid-19 and flu strike together? School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Dean Thomas LaVeist says safety measures put in place to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 are the same measures that would help reduce the spread of the flu. Advisory Board, August 27, 2020.
SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in untreated wastewater from Louisiana, Samendra Sherchan, Department of Environmental Health Sciences professor, is part of a group of researchers who reported the detection of SARS-CoV2 in untreated wastewater samples from southern Louisiana. Medical Xpress, August 26, 2020.
What's needed to prevent a COVID-flu nightmare, "We don't really know what would happen if you are dually infected," says Tulane School of Public Health Tropical Medicine dean Thomas LaVeist. Axios, August 20, 2020.
Louisiana may have passed the worst of its second COVID-19 surge, Susan Hassig, epidemiology professor at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, says it’s encouraging that Louisiana’s COVID-19 positivity rate is not rising even though the number of tests is declining. The Washington Examiner, August 13, 2020.
What to Pack for the Beach to Avoid Covid-19, A way to establish a safe physical distancing while at the beach is to bring an oversize spread and stake out a hefty chunk of territory, advises Thomas A. LaVeist, dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane. The Healthy, August 11, 2020.
How racism undermines the COVID-19 response and recovery, Dean Thomas LaVeist of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine is featured in this Reporting Health story. Center for Health Journalism, August 11, 2020.
As a possible plateau in Louisiana coronavirus cases brings hope, fear of rising deaths looms, The surge in COVID-19 cases that caused Louisiana to become a national hotspot for the second time since the pandemic began appears to have leveled off, at least for now. But with COVID-19, there’s always a caveat. Susan Hassig, a Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine epidemiologist and professor weighs in. Nola.com, August 1, 2020.
Covid-19 Clinical Trials Aren’t Very Diverse and That’s a Problem, Black & Latino people have suffered far more from the novel coronavirus than other races, but are just a fraction of the participants in human clinical trials of treatments & vaccines. That's a problem, dean of Tulane School of Public Health Thomas LaVeist tells Bloomberg. July 30, 2020.
Looking to the past to peer into the future, Professor and historian John M. Barry, author of 'The Great Influenza,' looks to the lessons of the 1918 flu pandemic for insight on confronting COVID-19, John Hopkins Hub, July 27, 2020.
Why infection rate might be key to coronavirus' disproportionate impact on Black people, Dean Thomas LaVeist on NOLA.com discusses the overemphasis on preexisting conditions as the driver of coronavirus’ disproportionate impact on the Black community. Preexisting conditions are part of the problem, but not the explanation of the disparity. Nola.com, July 18, 2020.
“The Pandemic Could Get Much, Much Worse”: Is Another Lockdown the Only Way to Avoid Catastrophe? Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine professor John Barry says the current "explosive spread" of the coronavirus across the U.S. will likely get worse as the weather turns colder. "It could be pretty devastating," he says. "It’s already devastating." Democracy Now, July 16, 2020.
The Pandemic Could Get Much, Much Worse. We Must Act Now. In an opinion piece, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine’s John Barry writes that the U.S. must get its COVID-19 cases to manageable levels, similar to that of some European countries, in order for the economy and schools to reopen. The New York Times, July 14, 2020.
How Safe Are Hotel Pools This Summer? Susan Hassig, epidemiology professor at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, discusses how safe it is to swim in hotel pools during the COVID-19 pandemic. MSN, July 10, 2020.
Florida emerges as world's new epicenter for COVID-19, Richard Oberhelman, MD, associate dean for global health at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, notes that some common interactions of young people present opportunities for COVID-19 to spread. The Hill, July 9, 2020.
Tulane med students helping businesses stay open safely during the pandemic, One of our rising Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences students in the Tulane MD/MPH program, Stephanie Shea, was on WWLTV News last night talking about her work with BRACE to help work with local businesses to provide community education for #COVID19 business resilience. WWLTV, July 9, 2020.
What Media Aren’t Telling You About Reopening Risks, Susan Hassig, Tulane epidemiology professor at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine says workers in their own private office space can safely unmask, but workers in an open office space need to wear masks at all times. Fair, July 2, 2020.
With unprecedented amounts of genetic data, researchers are tracking how COVID-19 mutates around the world, Tropical Medicine scientists and associate professors, Eric Dumonteil and Claudia Herrera, of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine described their attempts to build a family tree that records how the COVID-19 changes form using 18,247 samples of the viral RNA, what they refer to as "a global analysis of viral diversity across the world." ZD Net, June 29, 2020.
Q&A: COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force Co-Chair Talks Racial Disparities In Louisiana, Thomas LaVeist, the dean of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, spoke with reporter Rosemary Westwood at WWNO about racial disparities, governor’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force's work, and a multimedia project to dispel myths around racial disparities in health, called The Skin You’re In. June 25, 2020, WWNO.
Read This Before You Stay in a Hotel, See what Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine epidemiologist Susan Hassig has to say about COVID-19 and shared spaces. June 15, 2020, Elemental.
How COVID-19 Affects Your Mental Health, Dr. Lichtveld, chair of the Environmental Health Sciences department at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, spoke about the significance of the psychosocial effects of COVID-19, as well as the New Orleans communities, such as marginalized groups and children, that are most vulnerable to them. June 11, 2020, Where Y'at Magazine.
Could studying sewage help map the spread of the coronavirus? LSU, Tulane researchers think so, Samendra Sherchan, an environmental health microbiologist at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, discusses collecting sewage samples from wastewater treatment plants to see if the samples could act as an early warning system for a second wave of COVID-19. June 10, 2020, The Advocate.
Some authors retract articles that said hydroxychloroquine was dangerous, Patty Kissinger, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, discusses how science articles suggesting that the drug hydroxychloroquine didn't work on hospitalized COVID-19 patients and was dangerous have been retracted and how this has effected the study she is working on. June 5, 2020, WWL TV.
What COVID-19 Prison Outbreaks Could Teach Us About Herd Immunity, Susan Hassig, an epidemiologist at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, discusses the important public health lessons to be learned from prison outbreaks, how 95 percent of those testing positive for COVID-19 were asymptomatic. June 1, 2020, The Marshall Project.
What Do Coronavirus Racial Disparities Look Like State By State? Dean Thomas LaVeist mentioned in this article discussing the tailored public health response already happening in Louisiana through the Louisiana COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, which LaVeist co-chairs. May 30, 2020, NPR.
Louisiana Hospitals Reduce Causes Of Maternal Mortality, But Black Women Remain At Higher Risk, Maeve Wallace, a Tulane University researcher who studies maternal health, discusses her published a paper showing that homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant and postpartum women in Louisiana. The research also found links between violence and health outcomes overall. May 28, 2020, WWNO.
New Orleans African American Community suffers due to Covid-19. Dean Thomas LaVeist discusses The Skin You're In, a pioneering initiative to combat the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the African-American community in New Orleans, and Louisiana COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, which is looking at how health inequities are affecting communities that are most impacted by COVID-19. May 27, 2020, WGNO.
Paid sick leave mandates hold promise in containing COVID-19, Paid sick leave mandates hold promise in containing COVID-19, study co-authored by Tulane's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management Kevin Callison finds. May 19, 2020, Phys Org.
Ball State profs to send texts to improve Burmese moms’ maternal health, Dr. Mengxi Zhang, Tulane's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Alumna and Ball State professor, is developing a text-based messaging service to provide information about maternal and child health to Burmese refugees now living Indianapolis. May 18, 2020, Wish TV.
Messages and Messengers in Public Health Crises, How does culture shape reactions to a pandemic like COVID-19? How do cultural differences change how people act in such crises? Julie Hernandez of Tulane's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine provides some insight after working on Central & Western Africa's ebola outbreaks. May 17, 2020, 64 Parishes.
Woman's Hospital leading worldwide study of how coronavirus affects pregnancy, Emily Harville, a perinatal epidemiologist at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, talks about recruiting pregnant women to participate in a study to examine whether anxiety over the pandemic is affecting pregnancy outcomes. May 16, 2020, The Advocate.
What coronavirus outbreaks have in common, Thomas LaVeist, dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, recommends that individuals shouldn’t let their guard down in protecting themselves against COVID-19, even when outdoors. May 14, 2020, Mashable.
White House Cases Show How Easily COVID-19 Can Invade a Workplace, Susan Hassig, professor and director of the Master of Public Health Program in Epidemiology, discusses how COVID-19 tests can draw false negatives and how workspaces, including open-plan spaces, can be dangerous for spreading COVID-19. May 14, 2020, Healthline.
African countries ease Covid-19 measures amid warnings of possible rebound, Tulane SPHTM Alumni and current Tulane School of Medicine student, Dr. Adora Okoli, dicusses a difficult balance between fighting the pandemic and mitigating the devastating economic impact on millions of people who “depend on working daily to survive” in African countries. May 13, 2020, La Prensa Latina Media.
Latin America’s Outbreaks Now Rival Europe’s. But Its Options Are Worse. Carina Vance is a first year doctoral student in Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences Department and the former Ecuadorian Minister of Health, in this article she says “We cannot have health systems that only serve people who can afford it." May 12, 2020, The New York Times.
Battling COVID-19 in the lab, Laura Scott, Ph.D. student at Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, was written about in Citizen Potawatomi Nation for her current studies of wastewater to gain a greater understanding of how COVID-19 can live and spread and for volunteering as an epidemiologist for the City of New Orleans at the pandemic’s onset. May11, 2020, Citizen Potawatomi Nation.
Librarian Volunteers Help WHO Make Sense of COVID Information, Elaine Hicks of the Matas Library and Lina Moses, assistant professor at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, were featured in an article on how librarians are bringing their information triage, vetting, and organization skills to bear on the current #COVID19 crisis. May 11, 2020, Library Journal.
Will Warm Weather Slow Coronavirus? School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine professor and author John Barry wrote an op-ed in The New York Times, discussing what the 1918 flu pandemic can tell us about a second wave of COVID-19. April 30, 2020, New York Times
Tulane dean takes leading role in addressing racial disparities in COVID-19 deaths, As a leading expert in issues of equity and health, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Dean Thomas LaVeist is playing a key role in addressing alarmingly high rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths among African Americans. April 28, 2020, Tulane News
'I Survived Ebola - Now I Treat Coronavirus Patients,' Very moving video from SPHTM alumni, Dr. Adaora Okoli, who survived Ebola and is now a resident in New Orleans dealing with COVID-19. April 24, 2020, Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Commentary calls for attention to pregnancy during pandemic, Dr. Pierre Buekens and colleagues at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine have published a comment in Lancet Global Health calling for increased surveillance and research into the ways pregnant women may be impacted by COVID-19. April 24, 2020, Tulane News
Study says malaria drug isn't a 'miracle drug' for COVID-19 patients, Tulane researchers are exploring whether the drug can prevent new infections. Dr. Patricia Kissinger, professor of Epidemiology at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, discusses the study. April 22, 2020, WWLTV
Southern states largely go it alone in reopening decisions, Richard Oberhelman, MD, an infectious disease specialist at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, comments on the coordination among states in regard to reopening parts of their economy. April 22, 2020, AP News
3 Simple Ways to Stay Active While You’re Stuck at Home, Jeanette Gustat, PhD, MPH, department of epidemiology, prevention research center at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, said outdoor exercise has many benefits. April 16, 2020, Health Line
Response to the COVID-19 pandemic in urban slums and rural populations in Latin America, written by Dr. Arachu Castro, Samuel Z. Stone Chair of Public Health in Latin America and Director of the Collaborative Group for Health Equity in Latin America. School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, April 16, 2020, UNDP Latin America and the Caribbean
U.S. allies, encouraged by Washington, said goodbye to their Cuban doctors. As coronavirus surges, some are arguing for their return. First year doctoral student at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Carina Vance Mafla, was interviewed about the Cuban medical missions in Latin America. Carina Vance Mafla was once the Ecuadorian Minister of Health and comments on the ending of the medical cooperation agreement Ecuador had with Cuba. April 10, 2020, Washington Post
Across the South, ‘Walking a Tightrope’ While Awaiting the Worst, Susan Hassig, associate professor at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, comments on vulnerabilities, some of which are linked to poverty, that contribute to some patients’ COVID-19 complication, April 9, 2020, The New York Times
Official Counts Understate the U.S. Cornavirus Death Toll, Geraldine Ménard, MD, chief of general internal medicine at Tulane Medical Center, says she is sure some patients who were diagnosed with pneumonia had COVID-19, however no one knew because it was before COVID-19 testing was available. April 5, 2020, The New York Times
Venezuelans’ Health Shouldn’t Be a Bargaining Chip, David Smilde of Tulane’s School of Liberal Arts comments on the U.S.’s recent drug trafficking indictments of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela president, and other leaders in an opinion piece in Bloomberg. April 3, 2020, Bloomberg
Was That Cough You Had Last November or December COVID-19? Robert Garry, PhD, infectious disease expert at Tulane, comments on the likelihood of earlier cases of COVID-19 in places other than China around November or December. April 3, 2020, Snopes
Louisiana hospitals, medical staff stretched thin amid virus, David Becnel, MD, pulmonary critical care doctor at the Tulane School of Medicine, says hospitals are looking at using one ventilator for more than one person or retrofitting other breathing devices into ventilators as the amount of supplies decrease. April 3, 2020, AP News
New COVID-19 test gives results in four hours, The test, available to patients at Tulane Medical Center (TMC) and University Medical Center, was made possible through the joint efforts of the Tulane School of Medicine, the LSU School of Medicine, TMC, LCMC Health and Roche Diagnostics. March 31, 2020, Tulane News
Why Won’t the Federal Government Release Immigrant Children?, Professor Laila Hlass of Tulane School of Law tells Slate there is no reason for immigrant children to be detained in jail settings in the first place, and the coronavirus threatens to turn detention centers into a “tinderbox scenario.” March 31, 2020, Slate
"A nightmare all over again": after surviving Katrina, New Orleans battles Covid-19, David Mushatt, MD, chief of infectious diseases at Tulane, discusses the emotional toll of caring for COVID-19 patients, and Richard Oberhelman, MD, professor of pediatrics at Tulane, comments on the factors that could have played a role in New Orleans’ status as a COVID-19 hotspot. March 26, 2020, Fox News
Trump approves federal disaster declaration for Louisiana, Richard Oberhelman, MD, of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, comments on physicians and healthcare workers considering reusing personal protective equipment. March 25, 2020, AP News
The most important lesson of the 1918 influenza pandemic: Tell the damn truth, John Barry, an adjunct professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and author of The Great Influenza: the story of the deadliest pandemic in history, wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times. March 22, 2020
New Orleans’ ‘Let the good times roll’ now ‘Wash your hands’, Richard Oberhelman, chair of Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, says Mardi Gras could have created the perfect breeding ground for COVID-19. March 22, 2020, AP News
The Single Most Important Lesson from the 1918 Influenza, John Barry, an adjunct professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and author of The Great Influenza: the story of the deadliest pandemic in history, wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times. March 17, 2020
Worst-Case Estimates for U.S. Cornavirus Deaths, School of public Heath and Tropical Medicine Alum, Matthew Biggerstaff (ScD '17), featured in NY Times article on CDC COVID-19 modeling, March 13, 2020
Letters: Improve paid sick leave to better protect from viruses, Dr. Katherine Theall, professor in the Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences department and Director Mary Amelia Women’s Center, and Phyllis Raabe, Adjunct professor of the department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, co-wrote an opinion letter to the Baton Rouge Advocate, March 11, 2020
The 1918 flu pandemic, a cautionary tale, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine’s John Barry discusses the flu of 1918 and how information about it was disseminated at the time. March 8, 2020.
America's Coronavirus Virus: Psychology Of Panic And Stockpiling, Dr. Ronald Blanton of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine says a person’s response to the coronavirus depends a lot on where they live and how many cases have been reported in their area. March 6, 2020.
Coronavirus fears!, David Mushatt, MD, of the School of Medicine says people should not be fearful of the coronavirus but should be vigilant to protect themselves from it. March 2, 2020.
US experts comment on effectiveness of face masks, Giovanni Piedimonte, MD, vice president for research at Tulane, comments on the university’s research efforts regarding coronavirus. February 28, 2020.
Coronavirus impacts products from China, Douglas Nelson, PhD, economics professor at Tulane, discusses how the coronavirus could affect products from China. February 19, 2020.
Can this virus be contained? Probably not.John M. Barry is the author of “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History” and adjunct faculty at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, January 31, 2020.
Flu more concerning than coronavirus, local experts say, Lina Moses, PhD, of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and David Mushatt, MD, of the School of Medicine, discuss the recent coronavirus outbreak, January 28, 2020.
