Partnering to Improve Surveillance for Disease Prevention
Last week we hosted a two-day workshop on improving surveillance capacity for diseases spread by mosquitoes with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the International Society of Disease Surveillance (ISDS). ISDS's mission of bringing ideas to actions with measurable impact on public health practice, helped our Office of Infectious Disease Services to develop new ways to better inform our response to dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses. The meeting pulled together [...]
Youth Tobacco Rates Continue to Drop in Arizona
We’re seeing a downward trend in Arizona with youth tobacco prevalence that is similar to the national trend , according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey. The percentage of Arizona’s high school youth who have ever tried smoking has decreased from 46.5 percent in 2011 to 37 percent in 2015, a decrease of almost 20 percent. When we look at [...]
Learn the Signs and Symptoms of Heat-Related Illnesses to Stay Safe
The high temperatures over the past few days have resulted in 13 out of 15 Arizona counties to be under an Excessive Heat Warning. Exposure to these temperatures can put you at additional risk for a heat-related illness. Most vulnerable are adults age 65 and older, those who work or exercise outdoors, infants and children, the homeless, low income families, and [...]
Summer Lunch Buddies Program helping Families Find Healthy Meals
During the school year in Arizona, nearly 650,000 meals are served at schools each day. Last summer, the Summer Food Service Program served 16,007 meals each day at schools and other sites. Meals are served at a variety of community sites, but many families do not know about the program. Our staff and the Arizona Department of Education have teamed up to [...]
New Data shows Legionnaires’ Disease on the Rise
A recent CDC Vital Signs has highlighted Legionnaire’s Disease, a serious lung infection (pneumonia) caused by a type of bacterium “Legionella”. In the United States every year, about 5,000 people are infected with Legionnaire’s disease and about 10 percent who get sick will die due to these infections. The number of people with Legionnaire’s disease grew by nearly four times from 2000 to 2014. [...]
Are You Prepared for Antibiotic Stewardship in Arizona?
Last Saturday our Healthcare-Associated Infections Program and Antimicrobial Stewardship Subcommittee members presented at the 2016 Arizona Pharmacy Association Annual Convention. Their presentation “A National Action Plan to Combat Antibiotic Resistance: Are You Prepared?” was attended by over 200 Arizona pharmacists. Discussions included: Global initiatives to improve the use of antibiotics, including programs in the United States Major elements of the White House’s plan to combat antibiotic resistance [...]