The number of prescriptions filled for opioid pain relievers has increased dramatically along with deaths from overdoses from painkillers (more than 1000 in AZ last year), leading the CDC to identify prescription drug abuse a problem of "epidemic" proportions. To better equip physicians against this crisis, the National Institute on Drug Abuse offers two free online [...]
There’s never a dull day in public health! Things are changing all the time– from new interventions to help folks stay or be more healthy to the discovery of a new virus. Recently, folks on the other side of the world documented a new Coronavirus that can be transmitted person to person. It was first [...]
Check out CDC’s new iPad App, Solve the Outbreak, which lets you pretend you’re a disease outbreak investigator in the world-class Epidemic Intelligence Service by solving outbreaks based on real-life. When new outbreaks happen, disease detectives are sent in to figure out how they started, before they can spread. You get to investigate the outbreak and [...]
The CDC's “Strategic National Stockpile” is a large quantity of medicine and medical supplies that are available to states in case there’s a public health emergency (flu outbreak, asteroid, etc.) severe enough to cause local health supplies to run out. Once federal and local authorities agree that the stockpile is needed, meds and supplies are [...]
According to the CDC about 15% of school age kids have some hearing loss. Children who are hard of hearing will find it harder to learn vocabulary, grammar, word order, and other parts of verbal communication. Newborn hearing loss occurs in about 1 in 5,000 births- which is why it’s so important that AZ kids [...]
A new CDC report released this week gave a status update on the national Winnable Battle to reduce hospital associated infections. Not all medical procedures carry the same risk of infection, so the report uses something called a standardized infection ratio to compare infection rates among hospitals. It’s a complicated statistic, but basically, it divides [...]
Student participation in PE and sports has lots of benefits like improved social skills, confidence, general health, well-being and healthier weight. According to the CDC rates for obesity among students with disabilities are 38% higher than for students without disabilities. Students who have intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities and mobility limitations have the highest obesity rates. [...]
Last year we welcomed about 87,000 newborns to Arizona. Our Newborn Screening Program (in our State Lab) ensures that each are tested for 28 inherited disorders and hearing problems. The goal is to help kids avoid illness, developmental delays and even death. Teamwork, communication and coordination are critical in making this program effective. A quick [...]
Do you know a young adult that might be interested in a career in the exciting field of public health? If you do, they may be in luck. The Public Health Associate Program administered by CDC is designed to identify future public health leaders with undergraduate degrees and a passion for public health. Throughout the [...]
Every year a group called the Trust for America’s Health puts out a ‘Report Card” regarding what they believe is an assessment of each state’s readiness for a public health emergency. They use various measurements that they can find and grade each state against each other. The implication is that states that do poorly won’t [...]
