Our Human Resources team will be hosting on-site career events at the Arizona State Hospital (ASH) as well as increasing our recruiting efforts for the rest of the agency. The career events at ASH will be recruiting for critical positions including: Registered Nurses, Behavioral Health Technicians/MHPS 3's and Hospital Security at ASH; Epidemiologists in Public [...]
Last week we hosted a two-day workshop on improving surveillance capacity for diseases spread by mosquitoes with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the International Society of Disease Surveillance (ISDS). ISDS's mission of bringing ideas to actions with measurable impact on public health practice, helped our Office of Infectious Disease Services to develop new ways to better inform our response [...]
We’re seeing a downward trend in Arizona with youth tobacco prevalence that is similar to the national trend , according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey. The percentage of Arizona’s high school youth who have ever tried smoking has decreased from 46.5 percent in 2011 to 37 percent in 2015, a decrease of almost 20 [...]
The high temperatures over the past few days have resulted in 13 out of 15 Arizona counties to be under an Excessive Heat Warning. Exposure to these temperatures can put you at additional risk for a heat-related illness. Most vulnerable are adults age 65 and older, those who work or exercise outdoors, infants and children, the [...]
During the school year in Arizona, nearly 650,000 meals are served at schools each day. Last summer, the Summer Food Service Program served 16,007 meals each day at schools and other sites. Meals are served at a variety of community sites, but many families do not know about the program. Our staff and the Arizona Department [...]
A recent CDC Vital Signs has highlighted Legionnaire’s Disease, a serious lung infection (pneumonia) caused by a type of bacterium “Legionella”. In the United States every year, about 5,000 people are infected with Legionnaire’s disease and about 10 percent who get sick will die due to these infections. The number of people with Legionnaire’s disease grew by nearly four [...]
Last Saturday our Healthcare-Associated Infections Program and Antimicrobial Stewardship Subcommittee members presented at the 2016 Arizona Pharmacy Association Annual Convention. Their presentation “A National Action Plan to Combat Antibiotic Resistance: Are You Prepared?” was attended by over 200 Arizona pharmacists. Discussions included: Global initiatives to improve the use of antibiotics, including programs in the United States Major elements of the White [...]
On June 2, our Office of Environmental Health sponsored a Land Recycling and New Tools for Creating Healthier Communities and Economic Growth workshop at the Flinn Foundation in Phoenix. The primary focus of the workshop was on how to improve community health through the reuse or redevelopment of property to reduce exposure to environmental contaminants, increase access to healthy [...]
Governor Ducey proclaimed this week (June 12-17) as Monsoon Awareness Week in Arizona. While we haven’t yet been hit by the rain we expect during monsoon, we’re anticipating another summer of severe weather. Monsoons in Arizona can be associated with extreme heat, thunderstorms, dust storms, flash floods and wildfires. For public health, this means revisiting our preparedness plans and [...]
In the last several years electronic cigarettes have gained popularity, especially among youth, as a “safe” alternative to traditional cigarettes. A recent report from the CDC showed that while youth smoking rates are decreasing nationwide and in Arizona, there has been a significant rise in the use of e-cigarettes. The report showed that the rise in use [...]
