Nurses Mike and Missy Skaggs share their battle against pancreatic cancer after Mike was diagnosed with the disease at 47. Dr. Rachna Shroff, associate professor of medicine and chief of GI Medical Oncology at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, explains the disease is difficult to treat because there is no preventative screening to detect pancreatic cancer.

Top public health officials are taking their own advice about scaling down the holiday amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "My husband and I are bubbling with my parents, who live 90 miles away. We're being vigilant about quarantining for 14 days and then we’re all going to get tested in advance. We had to decide to (celebrate) with one set of in-laws, instead of both, so that was an awkward conversation. But we’ll probably celebrate Christmas with my husband’s family," said Saskia Popescu, an infectious disease epidemiologist and adjunct professor at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

Arizona CoVHORT is a multiyear study that will answer questions about risk factors for COVID-19 and how the virus impacts long-term health outcomes.

The CDC is advising people not to travel for Thanksgiving. However, some will still need to travel. Kacey Ernst, a professor in the University of Arizona College of Public Health and an infectious disease epidemiologist, provides advice on what to expect and how to protect yourself when traveling by plane.

In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians have had to reconsider how and for whom testing is done, particularly in people living with HIV who, as a result of a myriad of risk factors, may be predisposed to having severe disease should they acquire COVID-19, Lawrence D. York, PharmD, from the University of Arizona Health Sciences, said during a virtual poster presentation at IDWeek.

Flu cases are low in Maricopa County, especially compared to this time last year. Doctors believe it is partly because of COVID-19 preventative measures such as mask-wearing, but they also say it is too early to tell if the state will have a bad flu season. "The main reason we know this is because of the data that we have from the southern hemisphere where we see that we had a very mild flu season," said Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health, prevention and health promotion with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

The warm, moist environment of most coffee makers can be a breeding ground for germs like bacteria or mold. "We see growth from that residual moisture," said Kelly Reynolds, a University of Arizona professor of public health specializing in water quality, food safety and disease transmission. "There are a lot of little crevices in a coffee maker that stay moist for a long time."

Although extremely rare, health experts have linked Guillain Barre Syndrome and Bell's Palsy to COVID-19. "While we have a few case reports, it is not something that is common either," said Dr. Shad Marvasti with the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control advised Americans against traveling for Thanksgiving, though it stopped short of issuing a mandate to that effect, and the warning may have come late enough that many won’t change their plans. "The airport is where all the bad behavior happens," said Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist and adjunct professor at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, based on her own experiences flying during the pandemic. "When we have been talking about traveling, we've been so focused on the airplane – understandably, it's a small enclosed space – but we can't just focus on one piece of the travel process. It has to be the entire thing."

Researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences are working to help treat head and neck cancer by using personalized vaccine. It works in combination with the immuno-therapy drug Pembrolizumab. Molly Cassidy, who was diagnosed with oral cancer and participated in the clinical trial, is interviewed.