Cara M. Christ

/Cara Christ

About Cara Christ

Cara M. Christ, MD, Director Arizona Department of Health Services

New Year, New Targeted Lead Screening Plan

By | January 8th, 2018|Preparedness|

What are your health-related resolutions? The Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program’s New Year’s Resolution is to increase blood lead testing among Arizona’s most at-risk children. Children exposed to lead may not have any signs or symptoms but experience serious and permanent developmental and learning problems. The Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program released their 2018 Targeted [...]

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Questions about Zika…Call the Hotline

By | January 3rd, 2018|Preparedness|

With the holiday and travel season upon us, Arizonans are encouraged to continue to rebel against arboviruses like chikungunya, dengue, and Zika. Whether you are traveling to a galaxy far, far away or to lands much closer to home, we encourage you to “Fight the Bite” and support resistance efforts. If you have a bad [...]

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The Importance of Communicable Disease Reporting

By | December 29th, 2017|General|

Infectious agents are all around us. They can be found in the food we eat, in the water we drink, in the air we breathe, and on what we touch. Modern times have brought us solutions, such as vaccines and treatments, but also problems, like air travel and globalized food distribution, which can help spread [...]

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Get Vaccinated Today and Follow Prevention Guidelines to Protect Against the Flu

By | December 21st, 2017|Preparedness|

Flu is now widespread in Arizona. As of this week, there have been 2,976 cases of flu reported compared to 347 for the same time period in 2016, which is a 758 percent increase in flu activity. This is the highest number of seasonal cases this early since influenza tests became reportable. During the past [...]

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Arizona Receives National Recognition Top Tier of State for Public Health Preparedness

By | December 19th, 2017|Preparedness|

I am proud to announce that Arizona is one of the top states in the nation for public health preparedness. The annual Ready or Not report from the Trust for America’s Health that was released on Dec. 19 grades all 50 states on a variety of criteria including available resources, policy environments, and healthcare systems. [...]

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New Report Highlights Food Safety in Arizona

By | December 15th, 2017|Preparedness|

Food safety may not be something you think about everyday, but it is certainly on the minds of the ADHS Food Safety & Environmental Services Program and the County Environmental Health Departments.  These are the programs and departments charged with preventing foodborne illness through the inspections their Registered Sanitarians and Sanitarian Aides conduct at over [...]

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The Critical Role of Arizona Community Health Workers in Bringing Health & Wellness to Arizonans

By | December 13th, 2017|Prevention|

Arizona has a strong history supporting, implementing and sustaining Community Health Workers (CHW). The Arizona Department of Health Services Community Health Worker Program, which operates under the auspices of our Bureau of Tobacco & Chronic Disease, is a core component in our commitment to reaching disparate and underserved populations, has been a critical partner supporting [...]

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Displaying Data to Improve Health Outcomes

By | December 6th, 2017|Preparedness|

Publicly displaying vital public health information can help engage community partners in understanding emerging diseases of concern as well as identify whether public health interventions are improving the health of Arizonans. Our newly established Environmental Public Health Tracking Program furthers this strategy by distributing environmental health surveillance data to help public health practitioners, healthcare providers, community members, policy [...]

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It’s Not Too Late to Get the Flu Shot

By | December 5th, 2017|Preparedness|

National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) was established in 2005 by the CDC to highlight the continuing need to vaccinate for influenza through the holiday season and beyond. This year, NIVW is being observed December 3 through 9. Influenza causes mild to severe illness, and even death. Every season, roughly 4,000 Arizonans are hospitalized and 700 [...]

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World AIDS Day Recognizes Progress Made to End the Epidemic

By | December 1st, 2017|Prevention|

Today the Arizona Department of Health Services join all Arizonans in the recognition of World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day was established in 1988 as opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show support for people living with HIV, and to remember those who have passed. This year, we also have [...]

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