Jennie H. Kwon, DO, an associate professor of medicine and chief of the section of Healthcare Epidemiology & Antimicrobial Stewardship at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been awarded a $3.6 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lead a multisite clinical study. The study is aimed at evaluating whether vaccines affect the transmission of flu and COVID-19 within households.
Other WashU investigators co-leading the study include Stacey House, MD, PhD, an associate professor of emergency medicine and director of research in the Department of Emergency Medicine; Rachel Presti, MD, PhD, a professor of medicine and medical director of the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Unit; and Stephanie Fritz, MD, a professor of pediatrics and director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program.
The Respiratory Virus Transmission Network is designed to track viral transmission by enrolling people who test positive for influenza, and then following their family members who live in the same household. Those family members will report daily on symptoms and provide specimens. The study compares the risk of infection between those who were vaccinated and those who were not, with the goal of understanding the full benefits of vaccination. Other sites in the national network include Columbia University and Vanderbilt University.
