James Antoon

A Vanderbilt study will explore the neurologic and psychiatric complications of flu and evaluate adverse effects of the antiviral treatment oseltamivir, also known by the brand name Tamiflu.

Neurologic complications are common in children hospitalized with influenza, especially those with chronic neurologic conditions, and are associated with worse outcomes.

Vanderbilt research found that multiple factors are associated with the severity of COVID-19 disease in children, including older age and chronic co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes and neurologic conditions.

“We are seeing a spike in respiratory illnesses, especially RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and parainfluenza, which cause croup and bronchiolitis in young children and flu-like symptoms in older children and adults,” said James Antoon, MD, PhD, FAAP, assistant professor of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Two physicians in Vanderbilt’s Department of Pediatrics — James Antoon, MD, PhD, and Shani Jones, MD — have been honored for their work by the American Pediatric Association.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, children’s hospitals across the United States have seen signification reductions in the number of children being treated for common pediatric illnesses like asthma and pneumonia, according to a new multicenter study led by Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.