Health Sciences In The Media

When the CDC announced in mid-May that fully vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks in most indoor settings, it felt like a milestone to many Americans. But now that the circumstances have shifted, so should our behavior to deal with them. “The vaccines are highly effective, but we know they’re not perfect, so it’s important to use complementary measures like masking for those areas with higher levels of Covid in the community,” said Saskia Popescu, PhD, MPH, MA, an infectious disease epidemiologist and adjunct professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

A study at the University of Arizona that began this past May is specifically tracking self-reported menstrual experience in a subset of participants in a larger, longer-running study of the effects of the pandemic on health. "We have about 600 women in this reproductive cohort and we're following them for a variety of things, so we're collecting saliva to measure cortisol, we're collecting dried blood spots to measure anti-Müllerian hormones, which is a marker of ovarian reserve," said Leslie Farland, ScD, MSc, an assistant professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

Research conducted by Joe Gerald, MD, PhD, associate professor of public health policy and management at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, shows the rate of COVID-19 transmission among children is poised to surpass that of older age groups for the first time. “With continued K–12 in-person instruction, plus opening of our major universities, there will be additional pressure on transmission among children and young adults," Dr. Gerald said.

Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson, explains how COVID-19 vaccines provide lasting immune durability. "The quality of the antibody improves over time. It takes far fewer of those new antibodies to protect you. So I think that worrying about antibody decline is not something that's productive," Bhattacharya says. Note: This content appeared on more than 60 local NPR affiliate websites.

Dr. Koenraad Van-Doorslaer, PhD, an assistant professor of virology and immunobiology at the College of Medicine – Tucson, says the most effective mask is the N95, usually reserved for healthcare workers, followed by the KN95. "Regardless of what type of mask people are wearing, I think it's important that we wear something," Van-Doorslaer said.

Facing a slowing rate of Arizonans getting vaccinated, Gov. Doug Ducey last Thursday tapped former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, to be his new senior health advisor on COVID matters. Dr. Carmona currently is a professor of public health at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and most recently served as the director of the University of Arizona COVID Response Team.

Uncertainty remains over whether the vaccine or negative-test requirements actually make large concerts safe even if held outdoors. It turned out that Lollapalooza was not a superspreader event, at least according to Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, who reported only 203 attendees were diagnosed with COVID. Saskia Popescu, PhD, MPH, MA, an infectious disease epidemiologist and adjunct professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health sees the Lollapalooza data as "a really good sign,” but says an outdoor concert is not without risk, especially in places where the delta variant has thrived.

Ivosidenib tablets have been granted FDA approval for the treatment of adult patients with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer affecting the bile ducts both in and outside of the liver. “Patients living with IDH1-mutated cholangiocarcinoma, especially those whose disease progresses following chemotherapy, are in urgent need of new treatment options,” Rachna T. Shroff, MD, associate professor of medicine at the College of Medicine – Tucson and chief of GI medical oncology at the UArizona Cancer Center.

Facing a slowing rate of Arizonans getting vaccinated, Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday tapped former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, to be his new senior health advisor on COVID matters. Dr. Carmona currently is a professor of public health at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and most recently served as the director of the University of Arizona COVID Response Team.

It is possible, but extremely rare, to contract COVID and Valley Fever at the same time. If you’ve had Valley Fever, you’re not more susceptible to COVID. It’s a popular belief that you won’t get Valley Fever after living here for a few years. The median diagnosis time for residents is actually 12 years, and the fungus can lie dormant in your body. It is not contagious, and there’s no real way to prevent it, but you can help by avoiding dust. The Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona has a wealth of information about the disease on its website.