Health Sciences In The Media

Dr. Thomas Ardiles of the College of Medicine – Phoenix said it's incredible just how quickly Covid can cause permanent scarring to an otherwise healthy person's lungs. "The accelerated damage can happen in a period of weeks where a smoker may take 30 to 40 years to develop permanent damage," Dr. Ardiles said.

Kelly A. Reynolds, MSPH, PhD, wrote an article about the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new report in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases on the health and cost burden of waterborne disease in the United States.

In just seven hours today, nearly 44,000 Arizonans have made appointments to be vaccinated at the state’s first 24/7 COVID-19 vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. Those without computer access or needing extra help registering can call 1-844-542-8201, staffed through support from the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center at the University of Arizona, the Banner Health Poison and Drug Information Center, and Crisis Response Network’s 211 Arizona program.

Back in August, the University of Arizona launched an anonymous COVID-19 exposure notification app. The university believes that the app has helped reduce the average number of people infected on campus by at least 12%. "It gives people another edge. A way to really take charge of their own health, to have better awareness of their exposure," said Kacey Ernst, infectious disease epidemiologist and professor at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

Gov. Doug Ducey in his State of the State address Monday urged everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19, saying the more Arizonans who do so, the faster the state “can get on with life as it should be.” Dr. Joe Gerald, an associate professor of public health policy and management at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and member of the university’s COVID Modeling Team, thinks it will require more than that. “I don’t think we will be able to vaccinate our way out of this problem given how bad we’re doing right now.”

The Arizona Interscholastic Association's decision to move ahead with the high school winter sports season while requiring athletes to wear masks during competition was met with skepticsm by some health experts. "Even with the masks, it is a risk for athletes due to the fact they are not isolated,'' said Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health, prevention and health promotion with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Naomi Bishop, an associate librarian, at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix, is one of this year’s I Love My Librarian Award winners, presented by the American Library Association and sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of New York. Each honoree receives $7,500, and a $750 donation to their library. The winners are nominated by library patrons for "expertise, dedication and profound impact" on their communities. Bishop was one of 10 winners for being "a champion for social justice."

Experts say getting infected with COVID-19 a second time is rare, but it can happen. "Currently, only a small number of cases have been shown convincingly to be reinfection," said Dr. Elizabeth Connick, chief of the infectious diseases division at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. "I suspect that we're going to learn that reinfection occurs a lot more frequently."

In hard-hit Arizona, the crisis will get worse, said Dr. Joe K. Gerald, associate professor of public health policy and management at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. "We should expect to set new records for cases, hospitalizations, and deaths over the coming weeks. Policy action is urgently needed to mitigate the worst possible outcome," Gerald wrote.

In hard-hit Arizona, the disaster will worsen, according to Joe Gerald, associate professor at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. “We should expect to set new records for cases, hospitalizations, and deaths over the coming weeks. Policy action is urgently needed to mitigate the worst possible outcome,” Gerald wrote.