Keipp Talbot

Computer illustration of a plasma cell (B-cell, left) secreting antibodies (white) against influenza viruses (right). Antibodies bind to specific antigens, for instance viral proteins, marking them for destruction by phagocyte immune cells.
February 2, 2023

Risk of household flu spread skyrocketed during pandemic

A Vanderbilt study found that the household spread of flu during the 2021-2022 season was more than twice as high as it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Jake Lowary
January 19, 2023

Emerging Infections Program lands national award for COVID response

Vanderbilt’s Emerging Infections Program (EIP) recently received the Toby Merlin Award for Excellence in Emergency Response, presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

By Jake Lowary
December 21, 2022

Flu season came early, hit hard in Tennessee

Flu season came a month early this year in Tennessee and hit hard, disproportionately affecting children, according to Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Tennessee Department of Health and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

By Craig Boerner
August 23, 2021

‘DNA’ podcast Season 2 explores COVID, science and trust in communities

By Holly Fletcher
July 22, 2021

Influenza network sizes up COVID

Hospital data from a CDC network that monitors influenza revealed that adults hospitalized for COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic were 20x more likely to die compared to hospitalized influenza patients.

By Paul Govern
October 30, 2020

VUMC study finds faster, wider spread of COVID-19 in U.S. households

COVID-19 spreads faster and more widely throughout U.S. households than previously reported, according to new preliminary research from a multicenter study led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers and published in, a weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

By Jake Lowary
August 31, 2020

Vaccine narrows racial disparities in pneumococcal disease

In a major public health success, the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine PCV13, or Prevnar 13, in 2010 in the United States is associated with reduction in socioeconomic disparities and the near elimination of Black-white-based racial disparities for invasive pneumococcal disease.
By Paul Govern
June 30, 2020

New study examines coronavirus transmission within households

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators are leading a new study that examines the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, within households in Nashville.
By Jake Lowary
October 9, 2019

Vaccine study seeks to halt flu’s most severe side effects

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is leading a multicenter national study to evaluate the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine for preventing the flu’s most serious side effects — admission to an intensive care unit (ICU), organ failure and death.
By Nancy Humphrey
March 1, 2018

Older adults less likely to receive flu tests: study

An influenza diagnosis for people 65 and older is serious. Up to 85 percent of influenza-related deaths occur in older adults, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention reports.
By Kristin Smart
August 13, 2014

High-dose flu vaccine more effective in elderly, Vanderbilt-led study shows

High-dose influenza vaccine is 24 percent more effective than the standard-dose vaccine in protecting persons ages 65 and over against influenza illness and its complications.
By Craig Boerner
April 4, 2013

Vanderbilt researchers work to balance flu vaccine debate

Research in the last two years to examine the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine has raised public doubt about the flu shot's effectiveness. But two Vanderbilt researchers co-wrote an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently to help balance the current debate.
By VUMC News and Communications