Health Sciences In The Media

As concerns grow over the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, Germany on Monday became the largest Western country yet to announce that it will offer vaccine booster shots to a wide range of people considered potentially vulnerable. "The problem here is, we're just sort of going on immunological priors, rather than really great data to justify things one way or the other," said Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, professor and immunologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson.

The COVID-19 pandemic left many people with disrupted sleep patterns. The 4-7-8 technique developed by Andrew Weil, MD, founder of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, is based on ancient meditation and breathing techniques. Also known as the "Relaxing Breath," the method puts the practitioner in a relaxed state almost immediately.

Arizona has recorded more than 6,800 cases of valley fever so far this year, according to July data from the Arizona Department of Health Services. Valley fever is a lung disease caused by the inhalation of Coccidioides,​​ a fungus common in the alkaline soil of the Sonoran Desert. The Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona has a list of valley fever specialists.

Delivery of the J&J vaccine was paused earlier this year because six people developed blood clots after its use. The vaccine was later found to be safe. A person is “17 times more likely to get a blood clot from COVID-19 than from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” according to Ricardo Correa, MD, associate professor at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

According to Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson, the virus must overcome "backup layer after backup layer" of defenses. So even if a virus continues to spread through a person's body, "each stage it has to get past takes a bigger chunk" out of it, Bhattacharya said.

It’s true that some people have tested positive for the coronavirus even after getting a vaccine, but that is no indication the vaccines don’t work. On the contrary, public health experts say the evidence is overwhelming that the shots dramatically reduce your chances of severe illness and death. “I lose infinitely more sleep over the fact that we have such large numbers of unvaccinated people who are at a tremendous risk of developing severe disease,” Janko Nikolich-Žugich, MD, PhD, an immunologist and professor of medicine at the College of Medicine – Tucson, told NBC News. “We shouldn’t be complacent or cavalier about it, but it pales in comparison to the question of how we get as many people as possible vaccinated.”

Public health experts say the evidence is overwhelming that the shots are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. They dramatically reduce your chances of severe illness and death. “I lose infinitely more sleep over the fact that we have such large numbers of unvaccinated people who are at a tremendous risk of developing severe disease,” Janko Nikolich-Žugich, MD, PhD, an immunologist and professor of medicine at the College of Medicine – Tucson, told NBC News. “We shouldn’t be complacent or cavalier about it, but it pales in comparison to the question of how we get as many people as possible vaccinated.”

The new CDC guidelines recommend a return to indoor masking — this time for vaccinated people as well as the unvaccinated. Saskia Popescu, PhD, MPH, MA, an infectious disease epidemiologist and adjunct professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, discusses the updated guidelines and whether this is an indication of a step backward in terms of curbing the spread of COVID-19.

The CDC reversed its mask guidance Tuesday and is now recommending the use of masks indoors in areas of high or substantial transmission, as well as masking for everyone in K-12 schools. "Two things with the delta variant: One is that it's much more infectious than previous variants. And two, vaccinated people can actually spread it to other people," said Shad Marvasti, MD, director of public health and prevention at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Messy bedrooms can trigger feelings of alertness and anxiety, so Salma Patel, MD, a sleep medicine specialist at the College of Medicine – Tucson, recommends keeping your sleep space as clean and organized as possible. “Piles of unfinished laundry, visible to-do lists, and other forms of clutter can be stimulating,” she warns. “They remind you of work that needs to be done, which can make it harder to fall asleep.”