New AzPHA Report: COVID-19 Has Been the Leading Cause of Death During the Pandemic in Arizona
One of our AzPHA members, Allan N. Williams, MPH, PhD, recently retired from his role as a public health statistician at the Minnesota Department of Health and moved to AZ. He’s been helping us analyze key data in Arizona. His latest report was published this week and is entitled “COVID-19 As the Leading Cause of Death in Arizona During the Pandemic: An Evidence Review” Not surprisingly, our report found that
West Nile Virus has Reached the Highest Levels Ever Recorded in Maricopa County
The West Nile Virus arrived for the first time that we know of in North American in 2003. There were cases East of the Mississippi that year, and the Eastern US did experience a significant outbreak that year. The next year was the Western US’ turn, and Arizona has several hundred cases of the West Nile virus that year. Most of us thought that 2004 would always be the worst
Arizona Has An On-line Portal to Get Your Immunization Record: Will It Work for You?
ADHS’ Vaccine Look Up Tool – AZ MyIR With employer-based mandates kicking in and as folks approach the 6-8 month mark post their initial COVID-19 vaccine, it will be more and more important for folks to be able to access their vaccination records. Fortunately, several years ago (back when I was with ADHS), we put together a tool so that parents could look up their kid’s vaccination records without going
Hospitalizations Remain Stubbornly High with 25% of ICU Capacity Absorbed by Unvaccinated COVID Patients
#DeltaDucey Wave Continues to Take 200-300 Lives Per Week View Dr. Joe Gerald’s Full Epidemiology & Hospital Occupancy Report Arizona continues to experience high levels of community transmission with case rates modestly improving. Test positivity remains stubbornly high reminding us that test capacity, accessibility, and/or uptake is inadequate to meet public health needs. Plateauing among older, highly vaccinated groups serves as a warning that major behavioral shifts or waning immunity
World Health Organization Recommends a New Malaria Vaccine for Highly Endemic Areas
Nevertheless, this vaccine isn’t a “game changer” Malaria is an infectious disease caused by a parasite called parasite P. falciparum. People can get malaria when they’re bitten by a mosquito that is infected with the parasite. People typically experience symptoms 10–15 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Initial symptoms may be mild, including headache and fever, and it can be hard to tell whether they indicate malaria. However, these symptoms
It’s Time to Nail Down Arizona’s Plan to Vaccinate Elementary School Kids… Now
Now that Pfizer has turned in their emergency use authorization application for their vaccine designed for kids between 5 and 11 years old, it’s crunch time to finish figuring out how we’re going to vaccinate kids fast next month. FDA’s advisory committee meeting is October 26th and CDC’s advisory committee is on November 2nd and 3rd, so it looks like we’ll get the green light on November 4. This Pfizer