Last week we announced that the adult smoking rate in Arizona is at an all-time low. New data from the CDC shows the 2015 adult smoking rate in Arizona dropped to a historic low of 14 percent, down from 19.3 percent in 2011. This decrease translates to more than 200,000 Arizonans who quit smoking over [...]
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are the germs that don’t respond to the drugs developed to kill them. Such germs threaten to return us to the time when people used to die from simple infections. Today, antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause at least two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths every year in the United States. High levels of antibiotic resistance have [...]
Recently, CDC’s Vital Signs publication highlighted sepsis, a complication caused by the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection, which can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death. Sepsis is a medical emergency and is deadly when it’s not quickly recognized and treated . Patients who develop sepsis have an increased risk of complications and [...]
Last week CDC released 2015 vaccination coverage data for teens collected through the National Immunization Surveys (NIS). These surveys are sponsored annually through the CDC, and for teens, they attempt to estimate the level of coverage for three important adolescent vaccines: Tdap, Meningococcal, and HPV vaccine. There is good news for Arizona in this year's [...]
The 2016 Summer Olympics will soon take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a Zika-affected country. This has created a lot of discussion about the risk for travelers and their families. CDC and the WHO have both affirmed that travel to the Olympics is not any riskier than non-Olympic-related travel to Zika affected areas. The [...]
The World Health Organization is calling on everyone to "Know hepatitis - Act now" this World Hepatitis Day on July 28. Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver and is often caused by a virus. The three most common viruses that cause viral hepatitis in the U.S. are hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. [...]
Data is an instrumental component of public health that helps us monitor population health, plan and evaluate interventions, and track priorities. One of our most valuable sources of public health data is the annual Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is a telephone survey that collects data from Arizona adults 18 and older. The BRFSS survey collects data related [...]
Family, fireworks, food, and fun are four great reasons for a 4th of July celebration. It is also a great time to fire up the grill and prepare delicious summertime meals. Just don’t let foodborne illness spoil the fun. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1 out of 6 Americans will become sick this year and 128,000 [...]
Our department receives funding from the CDC for the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant to fund several of our prevention efforts in Arizona, such as the program to reduce the number of prescription drug overdoses and deaths in the state. The block grant has provided strong support to states since the 1980s. In addition to [...]
On April 1st, a delegation of state and local public health professionals from Arizona joined up with experts across the county at CDC's Zika Action Plan Summit in Atlanta. Arizona has already done quite a bit in preparation for the arrival of Zika virus in Arizona, including developing response plans, meeting monthly with state and [...]
