Public Health On Call

How are updated COVID vaccines performing against severe and long COVID? What have we learned about COVID transmission that could help people calculate their risk in certain situations? Do we know more about when people might be most infectious? What's the latest evidence on seasonality? And do we have any new answers about long COVID? Katelyn Jetalina , aka Your Local Epidemiologist, returns to t...

Professor Nancy Glass of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing studies violence against women and girls in humanitarian settings and conflicts around the world. She speaks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about key themes from this difficult work and how they apply to reports of the rape, mutilation, and murder of Israeli women and girls during the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. They also discuss what co...

With more widespread use of cannabis has come an uptick of reports of related psychotic symptoms, especially among youths and young adults. Dr. David Wolinsky , a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins, talks with Stephanie Desmon about cannabis and the risk of psychosis and what is known (and not known) about how cannabinoids interact with our bodies. They also discuss who might be most at risk and some t...

More than 85,000 participants attended the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai, better known COP28, which ended in December. The big news: a call to governments to speed the transition away from fossil fuels. Susan Joy Hassol , author and climate change communicator, tells Stephanie Desmon that the final agreement is a hollow disappointment misa...

Ketamine prescriptions for chronic pain and mental health are increasing, but what is known about the safety and effectiveness for off-label use? And how are doctors prescribing a drug approved as an anesthetic in clinical settings for outpatient use? Dr. Caleb Alexander returns to the podcast to talk with Lindsay Smith Rogers all about ketamine.

Rural communities have unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to health. Cara James , president and CEO of Grantmakers in Health, a philanthropic organization that supports rural health foundations, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about some of the unique facets of small communities including economic disparities and struggling health care systems. They also discuss addressing misinforma...

Congress banned most surprise medical bills back in 2020, with one major exception: ambulance rides. Can lawmakers find a fix? Guest host Dan Gorenstein of the Tradeoffs podcast investigates. Learn more: https://tradeoffs.org/2023/11/09/surprise-ambulance-bills/

Substance use disorder is recognized as a disability and therefore protected under antidiscrimination laws. But stigma persists, even in health care settings where people who use substances may be denied necessary care.  Rebekah Joab , senior staff attorney at the Legal Action Center, talks with Lindsay Smith Rogers about LAC's litigation and advocacy efforts to combat SUD-based discrimination and...

Anopheles stephensi , a species of mosquito native to Southeast Asia, is finding its way to Africa. Unlike  Anopheles gambiae, the species native to Africa,  Anopheles   stephensi  can breed in tiny amounts of water year-round and has made a comfortable home in urban areas. It's also a remarkably adept spreader of malaria in places and to extents not normally seen in places across the continent. I...

Just because we can do something medically, should we? A new podcast from the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics explores some unintended consequences of advancing technology and medicine. Bioethicist and playing god? producer Jeff Kahn talks with Stephanie Desmon about the podcast and some of the topics they cover, including ethics around buying and selling organs, fertility, and more. L...

Are you one of the millions of people who experience dry skin and itchiness when the weather becomes colder? Dermatologist Dr. Shafat Hassan talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what happens to our skin in the wintertime and how we can take care to reduce redness, chapping, and other dermatological issues. Spoiler alert: It's also important to apply sunscreen, even on blustery, cold days.

Known risk factors for suicide, such as gender and race, are too general to pinpoint who might be in imminent danger. Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Dr. Paul Nestadt talks with Stephanie Desmon about "psychological autopsies," or investigations of suicides to better understand who is at risk—and where there might be opportunities for interventions. Learn more:  https://magazine.jhsph.edu/2023/looking-...

An increased prevalence of firearms and a lack of public denouncement of violence are escalating the risks of violence in places critical to political participation. Tim Carey ,  law and policy advisor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, talks with Stephanie Desmon about a new report from the Center that lays out gun policy and communication recommendations to ensure that the p...

Dr. Paul Spiegel , a physician, epidemiologist and the director of the Center for Humanitarian Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has worked in humanitarian emergencies for the last 30 years. In a bonus episode, Dr. Spiegel talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about his recent deployment to Cairo, Egypt as a strategic advisor to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for...

Since 2020, New Yorkers have lost around 4.6 years of overall life expectancy—and up to 5.5 years for Black and 6 for Latino residents. NYC's Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about Healthy NYC, an initiative building on the momentum of the pandemic to claw back these losses and improve the overall health of the population. They discuss the goals of the initiative, ho...

In the last episode of 2023, Lindsay Smith Rogers talks with co-hosts Dr. Josh Sharfstein and Stephanie Desmon about 2023. This year saw a rise in non-COVID topics, including Supreme Court cases, malaria, RSV, antitrans health legislation, climate emergencies, artificial intelligence, and more. They also talk about what topics they're thinking about for 2024. Learn more about another one of our pr...

In September of this year, routine testing turned up the presence of a microscopic parasite called cryptosporidium in Baltimore's water supply. Johns Hopkins environmental health scientist Natalie Exum returns to the podcast to speak with Lindsay Smith Rogers about what the parasite's presence means for the larger water system, and why it's critical to repair and replace aging infrastructure throu...

The Geneva Convention sets out specific protections of health care in war dating back to the 1860s. Len Rubenstein , interim director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights and author of the book Perilous Medicine: The Struggle to Protect Health Care from the Violence of War talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the core elements of these laws and how they apply in the curre...

Medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro show lots of promise for treating obesity but scientists still don't understand exactly how they work. There's also a lack of data to show whether these medications are safe to take long term. Dr. Sameer Khan , a Johns Hopkins fellow in gasteroenterology, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what these medicines are and what they can do, the questions...

The CDC's newest center, a "national weather service for public health threats," is up and running! Dylan George , director of the center, returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the center's mission, what they're working on, and how this year's viral respiratory season might stack up against last year's tripledemic.

Tuberculosis is one of the oldest diseases on earth—taking more than 1 billion lives throughout history. Dr. Richard Chaisson , director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how TB continues to be a significant threat to global public health, what progress is being made in treatment and prevention, and why research will be needed until the day...

After two World Wars and the Holocaust, the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 was a milestone for humanity. But 75 years later, the document remains both an inspiration and a measure of failure. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein , former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the origins of the document, its role in "stating the obvious," and wh...

Peacebuilders work to help solve violent conflicts and rebuild societies through nonviolent means. Michael Shipler , vice president of Search for Common Ground, an international peacebuilding NGO, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the remarkable work the organization has done amidst some of the most intractable conflicts around the world. They discuss what factors drive violent conflict, the go...

A mysterious respiratory disease is affecting dogs across the country, in some cases causing serious illness and even death. Veterinarian Dr. Meghan Davis returns to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about what we know and don't know about these cases so far, and how data collection and surveillance will be key to learning more. They also discuss One Health, a public health approach bridgi...

Stimulant medications can significantly increase the quality of life for kids with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Dr. Rheanna Platt talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how a shortage of these meds is impacting patients and their families. They discuss what's behind the shortages and address questions about whether overuse of these drugs among adults is a cont...