National Immunization Survey Released by CDC
This month is National Immunization Awareness Month and we can’t stress enough how important vaccines are to protecting your family, yourself, and those around you. According to the Centers for Disease Control immunizations are one of the top 10 public health accomplishments of the 20th century. The 2014 National Immunization Survey for toddlers was released by the CDC today. This report [...]
Arizona’s Surveillance System Goes International
The ADHS MEDSIS Program and Tuberculosis Control Program have teamed up to enhance the already unique relationship with our Sonoran Public Health counterparts. As of June 25, we welcomed CureTB, an international referral agency, onto MEDSIS. The ADHS TB Control Program and Office of Border Health has a long standing relationship working with CureTB in following TB cases and contacts across international borders to achieve completion of [...]
It’s Mosquito Season; Take Precautions to Stay Safe from Diseases
Back in July, Arizona’s first case of West Nile virus was confirmed in Maricopa County. Unfortunately, the disease hasn’t stopped there. We’re continuing to see an increase in mosquito-borne illnesses statewide. So far this year, 46 cases of West Nile virus and 12 cases of Saint Louis encephalitis (another virus spread by the same mosquito that causes West Nile) have been confirmed in Arizona. We expect to see [...]
Healthy People Building Healthy Communities Across Arizona
The Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP) Steering Committee, an advisory group of 20 statewide leaders (which I'm fortunate to co-chair), met last week to discuss progress on the working draft for the AzHIP and Arizona's leading health priorities. As a refresher, the purpose of the Arizona Health Improvement Plan is to move the dial on important health outcomes. The priorities were [...]
New Campaign Highlights Safe Sleep Awareness
Today ADHS, the Safe Sleep Task Force, and several community partners launched a new public awareness campaign to teach parents and care givers of infants about safe sleeping environments. The numbers show heartbreaking statistics. In 2013, 74 infants died suddenly and unexpectedly, often referred to as SUID—sudden unexpected infant death. The cause of death for 64 of the children occurred while the [...]
Celebrate National Immunization Awareness Month
Each year in August National Immunization Awareness Month provides an opportunity to highlight the value of immunization across the lifespan. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) immunizations are one of the top 10 public health accomplishments of the 20th century. While immunizations have significantly reduced the incidence of many serious infectious diseases, vaccination rates for some diseases are not [...]