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107 - Inside the NIH during the Pandemic Jul 02, 2020

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Early in the pandemic, the National Institutes of Health launched a response against the new virus that has expanded to include basic and clinical research, and research into vaccines and treatments. Dr. Emily Erbelding, director of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about NIH's role in supporting the scientific community, what treatments are currently gaining attention and scrutiny, and how the race to produce a vaccine needs multiple contenders.

106 - COVID-19 in Louisiana: Early Challenge, New Threat Jul 01, 2020

Show notes

Louisiana was hit early and hard by COVID-19 but, over the past three months, the statewide response has strengthened. Now, Louisiana health officials are using the lessons they learned from the outbreak's early days to ensure that they are prepared to weather the surge in cases throughout the American South. Dr. Alexander Billioux, assistant secretary of health for the Louisiana Department of Health's Office of Public Health, joins Dr. Josh Sharfstein to discuss the strategies that have worked, the underlying realities the pandemic has exposed, and the vast amount of work that's still left to be done.

105 - The Challenge of Vaccine Challenge Trials for COVID-19 Jun 30, 2020

Show notes

Vaccine challenge trials, in which healthy volunteers are infected with a pathogen to determine whether a vaccine works, can be done faster and with fewer participants than traditional efficacy studies. But there are downsides: challenge trials require young, healthy participants which may not help produce a vaccine that would protect older populations at risk for severe COVID-19 disease. There are also serious ethical considerations. Volunteers would be infected with a virus for which there is no cure, and so much is still unknown about why this coronavirus can cause severe disease in people without any known risk factors. Johns Hopkins vaccine researcher Dr. Anna Durbin talks with Stephanie Desmon about this method of getting to a COVID-19 vaccine, her experience with a dengue challenge trial, and what we know so far about whether COVID-19 antibodies confer immunity.

104 - The Impact of COVID-19 on Immunizations Around the World Jun 29, 2020

Show notes

COVID-19 is causing disruptions in health services around the world and new data shows that 18 million children across 68 countries are at risk of not getting vaccinated. Dr. Chizoba Wonodi, the Nigeria Country Director for the International Vaccine Access Center, and Dr. Anita Shet, a pediatric disease specialist, talk with guest host Dr. Sara Bennett about the impact of disrupted vaccines and how maintaining these systems are critical for avoiding preventable deaths and maintaining trust for when a viable COVID-19 vaccine is available.

103 - Tom Inglesby Returns to Answer Your COVID-19 Questions Jun 26, 2020

Show notes

Why has the US had a harder time with the virus than Europe? Why does contact tracing seem to be working in some places but not others? Does it make sense to wear face coverings outside? Can COVID-19 be killed in the freezer? Can I get COVID-19 from a pool? What about in an elevator? Dr. Tom Inglesby of the Center for Health Security and Dr. Josh Sharfstein address your questions submitted to publichealthquestion@jhu.edu

BONUS - The Harassment of Public Health Officials in COVID-19 Jun 25, 2020

Show notes

COVID-19 has seen unprecedented harassment of state and local health officials. In a bonus episode, Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the threats facing public health officials in the pandemic.

102 - What Does It Mean to Call Racism a Public Health Issue? Jun 25, 2020

Show notes

Public health's focus on the root causes of disease and injury mean the intersecting crises of COVID-19 and racism provide a critical opportunity for the field. Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the sector's reckoning with reality around naming, defining, and addressing racism as a critical public health problem.

101 - How Families Can Make Decisions Around Summer Activities During COVID-19 Jun 24, 2020

Show notes

With vacations and camps upended, families with young children are struggling with making summer plans—especially when there's often confusing or conflicting guidance. Biostatistician Dr. Elizabeth Stuart and epidemiologist Dr. Keri Althoff return to the podcast to talk with guest host Dr. Colleen Barry about their decision-making framework for assessing risk to address questions like childcare, visiting with older relatives, and "quaranteams" with other families. Stuart and Althoff also break down how to make sense of COVID-19 data at the community level and what families can do to still have a joyful, memorable summer.

100 - The COVID-19 Crisis in Latin America Jun 23, 2020

Show notes

Several Latin American countries are seeing a wave of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Dr. Carlos Castillo-Salgado, who has trained hundreds of epidemiologists in Latin America, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what's going wrong, what's going right, and what needs to change fast on the continent to save lives.

099 - Dr. Leana Wen on Reopening Risks, Alarming Trends, and How We Could Prevent Another 100,000 COVID-19 Deaths Jun 22, 2020

Show notes

The rapid pace of reopening the US without the public health capacity to contain the virus has Dr. Leana Wen worried. Wen talks with Stephanie Desmon about the current state of the pandemic, what we did and didn't learn from the surge in New York, what individuals can do to reduce their risks, and what policy makers should be doing to prevent another 100,000 deaths and countless suffering.

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