Last year's influenza season turned out to be the mildest on record, but health experts have renewed warnings that a "twindemic" – in which flu and COVID-19 cases simultaneously rise and overwhelm hospitals – may be possible this year, and they urge Americans to get their flu shot. "Last year, we didn’t have a very big flu season because people were using masks and that decreased the flu season activity," said Ricardo Correa, MD, endocrinologist and associate professor of medicine at the College of Medicine – Phoenix. "If we do the same thing this year and we wear masks as much as we can, then the flu season will not hit us as hard as years prior."

Recent changes to U.S. donor heart allocation were followed by a narrowing of racial disparities in listing and transplant, though much more work remains to eliminate inequality, researchers warned. The article cites an editorial co-authored by Khadijah Breathett, MD, MS, a cardiologist and assistant professor in the College of Medicine – Tucson and Sarver Heart Center researcher, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The AZ HEROES longitudinal study on COVID-19 shows a decline in vaccine effectiveness from 91% prior to delta variant predominance to 66% afterward, suggesting an increased level of vaccination will be required to end the pandemic.

Arizona’s COVID-19 outbreak is still widespread and medical experts say cases are rising at an alarming pace among children. The rate of cases among those 15 and younger is projected to surpass the rate of all other age groups in the state, according to data compiled by Joe Gerald, MD, PhD, an associate professor of public health policy and management at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. "The age distribution of transmission is undergoing a profound shift," Dr. Gerald wrote Friday in his COVID-19 report.

Fariba Donovan, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine with the UArizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence in Tucson, says it’s crucial, now more than ever, for people with symptoms to get tested for Valley fever, because the symptoms are so similar to COVID-19. In fact, a third of all pneumonia cases in Valley fever endemic areas, like Southern Arizona, are due to Valley fever.

Maricopa County says it is continuing to offer community-based vaccine events across the area with various partners. The goal is to make access to the vaccine as easy as possible. "Remember in science, we need to be more conservative in waiting for the data and the evidence before we make a pronouncement too early. So, we can really be certain that at this point, it really is safe and effective," said Shad Marvasti, MD, assistant professor of family community and preventive medicine at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

New data from an ongoing University of Arizona Health Sciences research study show that the COVID-19 vaccines remain effective following the predominance of the delta variant, although at a lower rate than prior to its emergence. The newly released findings from the longitudinal AZ HEROES research study at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health point to a need for more vaccinations to offset the decline in effectiveness.

In this follow-up to her column about her cancer diagnosis, Dr. Taylor Riall explores how the experience led her to a new understanding of being a patient.