With the monsoon comes an increase in foodborne illnesses in Arizona. While outdoor pool parties, barbeques, and family gatherings are cool, it’s important to remember some tips for handling food safely to protect your family and guests from a nasty bout of foodborne illnesses. According to the CDC, reducing foodborne illness by just 10% would keep 5 million Americans [...]
According to a new CDC report, about 18 U.S. women die every day of a prescription painkiller overdose, totaling more than 6,600 deaths in 2010. This is a stunning increase of 400% since 1999. Every 3 minutes, a woman goes to the emergency department for prescription painkiller misuse or abuse. The report explains that women [...]
You’ve no doubt heard about the multi-state outbreak of fungal meningitis among patients who received an epidural steroid injections recently. Here’s what we know right now: Starting sometime in September some shipments of a steroid sometimes used to relieve back pain were contaminated with a fungus called Aspergillus fumigatus. Shortly thereafter patients in 23 states [...]
Update: We were incorrect in the earlier posting about free access to HBO. In fact, if you are not an HBO subscriber, you can watch the documentary online for free here: http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/ We don’t shy away from tough battles in public health. Through the last century, we’ve tackled all types of diseases, worked with public [...]
Looking for a book to read over the holidays about one of public health’s biggest achievements? You’ll enjoy a new book written by Dr. Bill Foege called House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox. Dr. Foege was a key leader in the smallpox eradication effort. He joined the CDC in 1962 in the Epidemic Intelligence Service [...]
The major public health achievements of the first 10 years of the 21st century included improvements in vaccine preventable and infectious diseases, reductions in deaths from certain chronic diseases, declines in deaths and injuries from motor vehicle crashes, and more, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 10 domestic [...]
Arizona has been able to decrease the rate of deaths from car, truck and motorcycle crashes by 43% in the last 4 years, from about 19 deaths per 100,000 in 2005 to 11 per 100,000 Arizonans in 2009. While this is good progress, we still have a long way to go. Crashes are still the [...]
Guest blog by: Craig Levy, Program Manager for Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases Easter is just around the corner, and a lot of parents will be tempted to purchase cute little chicks or ducklings for their kids. Unfortunately, chicks and ducklings are common carriers of Salmonella bacteria and pose an infection risk to families. At greater [...]
Arizona got a great public health preparedness report card from the CDC this week, getting a solid A by scoring 30/32. The report (Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening the Nation’s Emergency Response State by State) examines each state’s readiness using 32 criteria designed to drive states toward demonstrating results, measuring their program improvements and increasing accountability. [...]
Arizona got a great public health preparedness report card from the CDC this week, getting a solid A by scoring 30/32. The report (Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening the Nation’s Emergency Response State by State) examines each state’s readiness using 32 criteria designed to drive states toward demonstrating results, measuring their program improvements and increasing accountability. [...]
