UArizona Health Sciences researchers are improving health by studying the interactions that govern the immune defense system against invading microbes.

Columnist Joanna Allhands interviews medical experts about COVID-19 recovery. "When we say 'recovered,' it's in terms of how likely you are to transmit the virus to others," said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine –Tucson.

The COVID-19 vaccine is a powerful tool, but doctors still urge caution. The vaccine is effective at preventing severe illness from coronavirus, but it's unclear how it impacts transmission. "Being vaccinated means you're at low risk, not no risk, and so we still should be mindful of the most high-risk activities like indoor dining, large public gatherings," said Joe Gerald, an associate professor in the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

Millions of people in the U.S. are drinking water that fails to meet federal health standards, including by violating limits for dangerous contaminants. Latinos are disproportionately exposed, according to the Guardian's review of more than 140,000 public water systems across the U.S. and county-level demographic data. Paloma Beamer, an exposure science researcher at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, found that most Latino residents in Nogales, Arizona, thought that drinking tap water was as unsafe as drinking alcohol and driving, and more detrimental to their health than smoking.

Researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences received a $1.5 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to study the effects of stress and the risk of cancer and reproductive health issues in female firefighters.

Experts say low-income seniors of color face many obstacles that are preventing them from getting a COVID-19 vaccination. A mobile vaccine program, run between the University of Arizona College of Public Health's Phoenix campus and Maricopa County, is aimed at reducing some of the glaring inequities in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine among seniors that have become increasingly evident in Arizona.

In an editorial, University of Arizona College of Medicine virologists Felicia Goodrum Sterling and James Alwine, write: It is essential that until we meet vaccination goals, we must remain vigilant with masking, distancing, avoiding crowds and hand hygiene to contain the spread of variants until enough are vaccinated to control the pandemic.

Dr. Dan Derksen, director of the University of Arizona Center for Rural Health, said Arizona appears to be back on track. “As we get more vaccinations done, and as people continue to take care of themselves by wearing masks, social distancing, and the other things that we have been trying to do for some time, we need to continue those because we are still in the first phase of immunizations and we really need to get those vaccinations to the general public,” said Derksen.

Students at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health are on the frontlines of COVID-19 contact tracing in Arizona. Part of the Student Aid for Field Epidemiology Response (SAFER) program, the students investigates positive COVID-19 cases to mitigate its spread and learn more about the risk factors. "I don't think we can do this without the students who are making those calls day in and day out," said Erika Austhof, an epidemiologist at the college of public health who helps run the student call center. "They have been here hundreds and thousands of hours making calls since last March."

Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health, prevention and health promotion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, said disparities in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout are a concern, since racial and ethnic minority groups have been disproportionately hard-hit by the virus.