Public Health On Call

The global health community has worked for years to lower rates of maternal and child mortality in low- and middle-income countries. But while the world focuses on the number of deaths from COVID-19, estimates of indirect mortality due to disruptions in health systems cannot be ignored. Tim Roberton , an assistant scientist in International Health, talks with guest host Sara Bennett , a professor...

Dr. Arturo Casadevall —head of the convalescent plasma research project at Johns Hopkins—talks through the WHO's recent statement that there's no evidence of COVID-19 infection leading to short- or long-term immunity. Casadevall and Dr. Josh Sharfstein also discuss how COVID-19 is not like HIV or pneumonia, and what we currently know about new strains of the novel coronavirus.

The intensive care unit can be stressful for all patients but those with COVID-19 face unique challenges when it comes to mental and cognitive health. Clinical psychologist Dr. Megan Hosey of the Johns Hopkins Hospital ICU talks with Stephanie Desmon about ICU delirium, COVID-19 stigma, and what longer term prognosis could look like for patients inside and after the ICU.

Schools are scrambling to figure out education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Matt Hornbeck , principal of the top-rated Hampstead Hill Academy—a Pre-k-8 public school in southeast Baltimore city—says instruction is only part of the challenge: technology gaps, trying to reach vulnerable students, and the trauma of a sudden separation from friends and teachers are unprecedented issues to address. Ho...

Homelessness is already a public health emergency in the US. COVID-19 now adds to the unique challenges facing individuals without homes. So how are the homeless and their caregivers responding? Kevin Lindamood and Dr. Adrienne Trustman of Baltimore's Health Care for the Homeless, and Barbara DiPietro of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about homeless...

What makes this virus different from hundreds of other similar viruses? What happens if parents don't take their children for routine immunizations? Does prone body positioning help ICU patients? Does coronavirus spread best in wet or dry environments? What are randomized control trials and why is everyone talking about them? Is it possible to give someone a tattoo from six feet away? Lauren Sauer...

In March, Johns Hopkins Hospital began making its own COVID-19 tests. The lab now has the capacity to run 600 tests per day, but is limited by shortages in the supply of reagents: the chemicals needed to process the tests. Dr. Karen Carroll , director of the Division of Medical Microbiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what it takes to develop a working COVID-19 t...

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the opioid epidemic disappeared from headlines but not from reality. Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks to Dr. Yngvild Olsen , the medical director of an addiction treatment program in Baltimore and the Vice President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, about how her clinic had to pivot to stay open while protecting both patients and staff, how federal regulati...

Misinformation about COVID-19 can have real human costs in the forms of physical harm and "straining the fabric of democracy." But where does misinformation come from and how can it be prevented when so much is still unknown about the virus? Guest host Dr. Colleen Barry , chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, talks with Dr. Brendan Nyhan, an expert in the politics of misinformat...

It might be too late to halt transmission of COVID-19 but contract tracing could help bring the outbreak under control. Dr. Emily Gurley and PhD candidate Brooke Jarrett break down contact tracing and what it would take to get "an army" off the ground in US cities. Gurley and Jarrett also helped develop a free course on contact tracing which will soon be available from Johns Hopkins on the Courser...

As officials consider how and when to scale back social distancing restrictions, a big question is: When the economy reopens, will there be anywhere to go? Financial crises expert and author Kathleen Day returns to talk with Stephanie Desmon about the millions of Americans filing for unemployment, whether our current crisis will rival the Great Depression, and how we could start to dig our way out...

With organ transplants on pause in the US to free up needed hospital resources, Americans with kidney failure are forced to assume the risks of going to crowded dialysis centers three times a week. Kidney transplant surgeon Dr. Dorry Segev talks with Stephanie Desmon about how the organ transplant community can rethink ways to resume transplants, assess which patients might fare better with risky...

For the subset of people who become critically ill from the novel coronavirus, cytokine storms could be to blame. This severe inflammatory disease happens when the immune system goes haywire in response to a novel threat. Rheumatology fellow Dr. Max Konig and neurosurgeon Dr. Chetan Bettegowda talk with Stephanie Desmon about the vital role of cytokine in immune responses, how to identify who migh...

Until there is a vaccine, the best hope for the novel coronavirus is finding the right "cocktail" of treatments for managing severe illness. A unique clinical trial model developed several years ago may now help identify treatments that work. Dr. Derek Angus talks to Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the Bayesian inference model, a "March Madness" of testing multiple therapies at once. Learn more: jhsph.e...

Virologist Dr. Andrew Pekosz returns to the podcast with an update on what his team has learned about COVID-19. Pekosz and Stephanie Desmon discuss further indications that COVID-19 may not be seasonal, why COVID-19 is "the flu on steroids," and how learning about how the virus replicates in our upper respiratory tracts could hold clues for treatment and prevention. PLUS: An update on the convales...

The market is suddenly flooded with antibody tests claiming to prove whether or not people have already been exposed to COVID-19. But two critical questions are yet unanswered: Are any of these tests accurate and does past exposure mean immunity? Immunologist Dr. Gigi Gronvall of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security talks to Dr. Josh Sharfstein about a new report outlining the potential an...

If bats are immune to the novel coronavirus, can we learn something to help fight the virus in humans? How can I tell if my cough is spring allergies or COVID-19? Is it too soon for businesses like barber shops and salons to reopen? Can the virus crawl or be blown by the wind into your nose? Why are some people asymptomatic? Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security addres...

Most schools closed suddenly and have had to scramble to stand up online learning or other solutions to continue instruction in the midst of the pandemic. Further complicating the response is the fact that no one knows how long this will last. Dr. Annette Anderson of the Johns Hopkins School of Education talks to Stephanie Desmon about the Digital Divide, how schools are trying to prevent a "COVID...

Much of our world was suddenly postponed, canceled, or shuttered in the last month or so. There's now an opportunity to be more thoughtful about reopening. There are risks either way: wait too long and there are consequences for health, safety, and the economy. Open too soon, and viral transmission may ramp up and out of control. Dr. Caitlin Rivers of the Center for Health Security is coauthor of...

The challenges presented by the pandemic are giving rise to a pipeline of research proposals focused on COVID-19. Julie Messersmith and Denis Wirtz are leading Johns Hopkins University's multidisciplinary research projects to develop better detection and protection tools and treatments for COVID-19 patients. They talk to Stephanie Desmon about how engineers, public health specialists, and medical...

Colleges and universities are already starting to think about what it would take to reopen for the fall semester. But bringing back students, faculty, and staff—and welcoming the class of 2024—will require a complete rethinking of campus life. Dr. Preeti Malani , chief health officer of the University of Michigan, talks to Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how she's considering the health and safety of 50...

Drawn from a webcast series "The Politics and Policy of COVID-19," a product of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation SNF Agora Institute . This episode focuses on the comparitive responses of different countries and political systems to the pandemic. Featuring Anne Applebaum , SNF Agora Senior fellow; Ho-fung Hung , professor and chair of the department of Sociology at Johns Hopkins; and Dr. Josh Sharf...

Does the virus cause male sterility? Are false negatives a problem with COVID tests? Is there a connection between how much virus you're exposed to and how serious the illness is? Should people on immunosuppressive drugs stop taking them? Does the virus "reactivate?" Can people really become immune? Why are there so many more cases in the northern hemisphere? Why will a COVID-19 vaccine take so lo...

Bare shelves in grocery stores feed pandemic anxiety but Roni Neff , an expert on food systems and public health at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future , says this is not the biggest concern. Neff talks to Stephanie Desmon about how our robust food industry depends largely upon keeping its workers safe and well, how a pandemic completely shifts the model of emergency food access, and wha...

Contact tracing is a core tool of public health. Now, it could be a way to reopen the world. Crystal Watson of the Center for Health Security is the lead author of a recent report with a national plan to scale up our capability to conduct contact tracing . Watson talks to Stephanie Desmon about what contact tracing entails, how technology could help, how to approach privacy concerns, and why the p...