Health Sciences In The Media

A new study finds even with increased awareness and public health initiatives, improving health equity is a slow process. Senior Author Khadijah Breathett, MD, assistant professor and cardiologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson, discusses the study results published in the American Heart Journal.

Omicron has been known to more easily infect those who have had the vaccine due to its ability to circumvent immune system defenses, according to one study by Danish researchers. But the vaccine is playing a role in why Omicron is causing fewer hospitalizations and is less severe than the Delta variant. Shad Marvasti, MD, an associate professor of family and community medicine at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, is quoted.

In Arizona, 69 of every 100,000 residents are now hospitalized with the virus. "Our state is doing very little to slow transmission of the virus. We have a very lax policy environment. Our businesses are open," said Joe Gerald, MD, an associate professor of public health policy at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, is quoted.

The Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 is now overwhelmingly dominant in Arizona. Three researchers and physicians from the University of Health Sciences, are quoted.

Saskia Popescu, PhD, infectious disease epidemiologist and infection prevention expert at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, discusses the severity of Omicron’s toll on the healthcare system.

Shad Marvasti, MD, an associate professor of family and community medicine at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, discusses the recent surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant.

Three researchers from the University of Miami, the UArizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, are recruiting 100 households for a study to quantify the amount of dust kids inadvertently ingest at home.

Virus-related emergency room visits have set a pandemic record in Arizona, where hospitals are crowded and cases are up even though deaths from COVID-19 have tapered off a bit. Frank LoVecchio, DO, MPH, a professor of emergency medicine at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, attributed the jump to increased testing demand as more people arrive at emergency departments because they don’t know where to get tested.

Persuading people to line up for shots every few months is probably a losing proposition. About 73 percent of American adults are fully vaccinated, but so far just over a third have opted for a booster. Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, a professor of immunobiology at the College of Medicine – Tucson, is quoted.

Donald S. Weinstein, MD, was a founder of the widely admired Arizona Telemedicine Program at the College of Medicine – Tucson.