Health Sciences In The Media

The University of Arizona has been studying COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Dr. Jeff Burgess, an Associate Dean for Research and Professor in the College of Public Health, has been leading a study that has followed more than 2,500 people throughout the pandemic. Dr. Burgess has been examining the risk of reinfection to those who are in high-risk environments like nurses and first responders.

With the fourth week in a row of declining COVID-19 cases in Pima County, Arizona has evolved from a state of "crisis" to one of "elevated risk," according to Joe Gerald, an associate professor in the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health who creates weekly coronavirus epidemiology reports based on Arizona Department of Health Services data.

There are different stages to loss of smell, but what is most commonly reported as a COVID-19 symptom is a complete loss of smell or anosmia. Dr. Eugene Chang, a surgeon-scientist and the vice-chair of the UArizona otolaryngology department at the College of Medicine - Tucson, explains why the loss of smell is one of the first symptoms that can present with COVID- 19 infection.

Now that multiple COVID-19 vaccinations are on, or are soon to be on the market, there's a percentage of efficacy attached to each of them. Pfizer and Moderna are promising about 95% protection after two doses. And Johnson and Johnson is promising 66% after one dose. But what does that actually mean? "It's not like me, myself, now has 66% immunity. It's more of a population measure," says Dr. Deepta Bhattacharya, University of Arizona College of Medicine. It comes down to clinical trials.

Vaccination efforts are racing against community spread of COVID-19. As more people become eligible for vaccination, Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunobiologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson, answers common questions about what to expect after the shot.

The ongoing pandemic has given rise to a significant and alarming trend of increased alcohol use and abuse – especially among younger adults, males and those who have lost their jobs – according to a new study by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers.

In the US and much of the world, private well water supplies are unregulated, untested and untreated. Kelly A. Reynolds, professor and chair of the Community, Environment and Policy Department at the University of Arizona College of Public Health, writes about new support for education and training in private well construction and water treatment, along with new technologies for quality monitoring, to improve the safety of well water supplies.

Health advocates welcomed Monday's reopening of enrollment for Affordable Care Act coverage, saying the opportunity for more people to get or renew their health insurance could be "really good for Arizona." The normal period for Americans to sign up for coverage ended Dec. 15, but President Joe Biden called for this special 90-day open enrollment period in response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The change could open the door to subsidized health insurance for thousands in Arizona, where as many as 900,000 people may not have health insurance, according to Dr. Dan Derksen, director of the University of Arizona Center for Rural Health.

Cases of COVID-19 across the country and in Arizona are trending downward. Doctors are attributing that not only to the vaccine, but also because of increased mask-wearing. Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health, prevention and health promotion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, is quoted.

Nearly half of people in Arizona who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are white, according to data posted on the Arizona Department of Health Services website. Dr. David Beyda, chair of the Department of Bioethics and Medical Humanism at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, is interviewed.