Centers for Disease Control

/Tag:Centers for Disease Control

Mid-Monsoon West Nile Update

By | July 17th, 2013|Prevention|

Monsoon rain and humidity is great (at least I think so)…  but with it comes mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus.  Every year since West Nile virus was introduced to AZ in ‘04, we’ve had human cases of West Nile Virus (meaning it’s endemic now). The total number of cases bumps around every year from [...]

Yarnell Hill and Kingman Dean Fire Responses

By | July 8th, 2013|Behavioral Health, Preparedness|

With one of the worst wildfire tragedies in history happening last weekend, our Health Emergency Operations Center was active all week.  First making sure that there was enough behavioral health support through the Regional Behavioral Health Authorities, then helping provide some specific assistance to the shelters in Prescott and Wickenburg.   On Tuesday, we pulled special beds [...]

Comments Off on Yarnell Hill and Kingman Dean Fire Responses

Vaccine Driving Down US HPV Rate

By | June 25th, 2013|Prevention|

This week, The Journal of Infectious Diseases published a study looking at the number of human papillomavirus infections in females before and after HPV vaccine was created (back in ’06).  The study found impressive results: a 56% decrease in HPV since the vaccine was introduced in 2006 (among girls between 14-19 years old).  This is a big deal [...]

Comments Off on Vaccine Driving Down US HPV Rate

Swim Safe AZ!

By | May 17th, 2013|Prevention|

National Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week is coming up next week.  Healthy swimming depends on paying attention to basic health, hygiene, sun-safety, and what swimmers bring into the pool (and what they don’t).  For starters, remind your kids to take a sunscreen, hydration, and bathroom break every hour when swimming.  You might also want to start [...]

Comments Off on Swim Safe AZ!

SARS déjà vu?

By | May 11th, 2013|Prevention|

Last month the World Health Organization (WHO) began to receive reports of human cases with SARS-like infections caused by a new coronavirus. According to WHO, 30 cases of this new illness have been found and 60% of the infections have been fatal. So far, the cases have been limited to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab [...]

Comments Off on SARS déjà vu?

SARS… A 10-Year Retrospective

By | May 10th, 2013|Preparedness|

This Spring marks 10 years since Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) arrived on the global public health scene.  It started as a mystery illness in SE Asia- without name, origin, or cure in February of 2003.  The CDC immediately began working with the World Health Organization to investigate the outbreak.  Public health scientists across the globe [...]

National Campaign Shows Real Dangers of Tobacco Use

By | May 6th, 2013|Prevention|

Continuing with the success of last year’s landmark national tobacco education campaign- the CDC is launching “Tips from Former Smokers” which will run in Arizona through the end of June.  The media campaign showcases the real and devastating effects of smoking & secondhand smoke.  The ads feature people with smoking-related health conditions and candidly describe the [...]

Whooping Cough Booster & Pregnancy

By | April 4th, 2013|Prevention|

Whooping cough (pertussis) is a growing problem in the US and Arizona.  There were 41,880 cases and 14 infant deaths from pertussis in the US last year…  which is the largest number of cases since the vaccine became available in the 50s.  In Arizona there were 988 cases in 2012 and there’s a pretty substantial outbreak going on right [...]

Comments Off on Whooping Cough Booster & Pregnancy

CDC’s Valley Fever Article Spotlights AZ

By | April 2nd, 2013|General|

Valley Fever has been making news across the country today. A new report in this week’s CDC’s weekly epidemiology report shows that Valley Fever numbers have gone up substantially in AZ over the last 10 years.  Part of the increase is probably due to the fact that Valley Fever became reportable a few years ago- [...]

Comments Off on CDC’s Valley Fever Article Spotlights AZ