influenza

Influenza Season Has Started

By |2017-02-10T09:48:38-07:00October 19th, 2016|Preparedness|

Influenza season has officially started in Arizona with the first locally-acquired case confirmed late last week. If you and your family haven't been vaccinated for influenza this season, the time is now. The CDC recommends annual influenza vaccination for everyone six months and older. Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent influenza, but it [...]

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No Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine This Year

By |2017-02-10T09:48:47-07:00June 29th, 2016|Preparedness|

In public health, we know that flu is unpredictably affecting different populations at different times with different strains (remember the drift in 2014). Last week, CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that due to low vaccine effectiveness, the nasal spray flu vaccine not be used this upcoming flu season. Once finalized by CDC, these recommendations will [...]

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Flu Still Widespread in Arizona

By |2017-02-10T09:48:58-07:00February 29th, 2016|Preparedness|

The news is true… Arizona continues to top the country in reports of influenza-like illness for the fourth week in a row. While this doesn’t necessarily mean that Arizona has more people sick with flu than anywhere else in the country (not all flu cases get reported to public health departments), it does mean that [...]

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Influenza Activity Reaches Widespread Status

By |2017-02-10T09:49:00-07:00February 11th, 2016|Preparedness|

This week's flu report shows our influenza activity in the state has reached a "widespread" classification. More than 3,700 cases of flu have been reported throughout Arizona, with 51 percent of those in Maricopa County. There have been 3,710 lab-confirmed influenza cases reported for the 2015-2016 influenza season in Arizona. Cases have been reported in all 15 counties, with [...]

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I Was Sick Today, So Will I be Infectious Tomorrow?

By |2017-02-10T09:49:02-07:00January 19th, 2016|General, Preparedness, Prevention|

It’s bad enough to be sick, but worse is the thought of passing your illness to someone else. Have you ever wondered when you’re contagious and when you’re not? Some diseases can keep people infectious for a while. For example, people with pertussis (whooping cough) can be contagious for two weeks. People with infectious tuberculosis [...]

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Study: Flu Vaccine Cuts Kids Trips to ICU

By |2017-02-10T09:49:38-07:00May 21st, 2014|General|

Influenza vaccine reduces a child's risk of flu-related intensive care hospitalization by 74% according to a CDC study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. This is the first study that estimates vaccine effectiveness against flu admissions to pediatric intensive care units.

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2014-2015 Influenza Vaccine Recommendation

By |2017-02-10T09:49:45-07:00March 20th, 2014|Preparedness|

Every year the World Health Organization holds a meeting with worldwide experts to make recommendations for the next season’s Northern Hemisphere flu vaccine. It seems strange to plan for next season when we’re still in the midst of the current flu season, but the vaccine-making process still takes about 6 months. Influenza season generally ramps [...]

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Influenza Still Widespread in AZ

By |2017-02-10T09:49:50-07:00February 21st, 2014|Prevention|

A report out by the CDC this week found that people between 18 and 64 years old make up 61% of all flu-related hospitalizations so far this season in the US.   In normal years only about 35% of flu hospitalizations are from this age group. H1N1 (the flu strain we saw circulating in the 2009 flu pandemic) is still the [...]

Influenza is Widespread in Arizona

By |2017-02-10T09:49:54-07:00January 24th, 2014|General|

Influenza has been steadily spreading in Arizona over the last few weeks and this week we hit the Widespread Influenza threshold.  In fact, the number of cases increased by 50% this week- and several Arizona emergency departments are backed up with substantial wait times.  CDC’s report is due to come out Friday… but I’d guess that most states will [...]

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AZ Disease Detective Software Overhaul

By |2017-02-10T09:49:55-07:00January 14th, 2014|Preparedness|

Our statewide disease detectives (whose job it is to slow the spread of communicable diseases) need real-time electronic surveillance in order to get the job done.  Our I.T. folks and the people in Public Health Preparedness have been working on an upgraded system to help them for the last several months- and our new Medical Electronic [...]

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