The Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology (IDM) is committed to training the next generation of scientists and public health professionals to enhance the control of infectious diseases in the human population.
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Could hantavirus spark the next pandemic? Pittsburgh doctors explain
Suresh Kuchipudi is professor and chair of infectious diseases and microbiology at University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. He said while hantavirus is more deadly to humans compared to covid-19, it’s much less easily transmitted. “One thing that made this more concerning is that this is the hantavirus version that we know can spread from human to human,” he told TribLive Monday. “That being said, it is important to clarify that this is not like covid-19 where you share the same airspace with someone and then you catch it from the air.
What Pittsburghers need to know about hantavirus
Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that mainly spread through contact with rodents and their urine, droppings and saliva, according to the World Health Organization. “One scenario is when people in the springtime open the closed pump house or the lodge, the tiny little particles, dust particles, may have the virus that one can inhale and get infected,” said Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi, professor and chair of infectious diseases and microbiology at University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health.
Pitt Public Health researchers study tuberculosis trends in Vietnam
Tuberculosis remains the world’s leading cause of death from an infectious disease, with more than 80% of cases and deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. To help address the gap in health data, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health collaborated with colleagues at Hanoi Medical University to examine TB incidence and mortality in Lang Son Province, a rural border region in northern Vietnam.