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."

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.

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."

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.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that Americans shouldn't travel for Thanksgiving, due to the spike in COVID-19 cases nationwide. "You want (your mask) to be comfortable, because if it's not, you are going to be tempted to try and lift it up a little bit to breathe or shifted around on your face or something like that," said Kacey Ernst, an epidemiologist with the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

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.

A clinical trial at the University of Arizona Health Sciences designed to study the safety and effectiveness of a personalized cancer vaccine in combination with the immunotherapy drug Pembrolizumab will expand its cohort after promising preliminary data was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can relieve pain, according to a new study by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers. The finding may explain why nearly half of all people who get COVID-19 experience few or no symptoms, even though they are able to spread the disease, according to the study's corresponding author Rajesh Khanna, a professor in the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson's Department of Pharmacology.

The Centers for Disease Control is warning Americans to stay home during the holidays, after more than 250,000 people have died from COVID-19. In Arizona, the virus is surging. Thursday the Arizona Department of Public Health reported more than 4,100 new cases which is the highest number of cases in one day since mid-July. Modeling from both the ASU Biodesign Institute and the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health warn of dire days ahead if current COVID-19 trends remain constant.