Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Posted By on Tue, Sep 7, 2021 at 1:00 PM

Friday, September 3, 2021

Posted By on Fri, Sep 3, 2021 at 6:45 AM

click to enlarge Unproven ivermectin gains popularity as alternative COVID treatment among vaccine skeptics
TajPharmaImages | Wikimedia Commons via Arizona Mirror
Ivermectin, a drug approved by the FDA to treat intestinal diseases and roundworms in humans, has become popular among vaccine skeptics as alleged alternative treatment for COVID-19, despite a lack of evidence that it’s effective in treating the disease. Some people are ingesting a version of the drug intended for horses, which is poisonous to humans.

Some Arizonans are seeking ivermectin, the unproven alternative treatment for COVID-19 that has become popular among conservatives as both a way to prevent and treat infections, leading to an uptick in calls to poison control centers and at least one hospitalization.

Ivermectin has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat COVID-19. It is primarily used for treating parasitic worms and is not an antiviral drug. One form of the medication that is approved by the FDA is used for treating people with intestinal diseases and roundworms.

Nonetheless, it has become increasingly sought after as an alternative COVID treatment, largely in conservative circles where skepticism about coronavirus vaccines runs high. Some are even taking a poisonous version of the drug that is intended solely for use as a de-wormer for horses.

Posts in private anti-vaccine Facebook groups, provided to the Arizona Mirror by Twitter user AZ Right Wing Watch, show Arizonans looking for ways to get their hands on the drug. One person was hospitalized after taking the drug, according to the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center in Phoenix. The Mirror found two nurse practitioners through the Facebook groups who have prescribed the drug to people as an off-label COVID treatment. 

In 2020, poison control officials received two calls the entire year related to the drug, which is most commonly associated with livestock but also has a form used in humans. So far in 2021, Banner poison control in Phoenix received 12 calls and its center in Tucson received 20.  It’s unclear whether the calls were for the human or livestock version of the drug.



Thursday, September 2, 2021

Posted By on Thu, Sep 2, 2021 at 7:09 AM

click to enlarge COVID cases hitting unvaccinated Arizonans
Mufid Majnun on Unsplash

Pima County health officials warned this week that COVID cases are rising among children 11 and under—a population that remains ineligible for vaccines.

The increase comes about a month after most schools reopened for the fall semester, leading to an increase in cases by 16.5% over the last week.

Kids between 12 and 19 had COVID case growth of 11.7%, said Pima County Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francisco Garcia. The FDA authorized the Pfizer COVID vaccine to be offered to children 12 and older on May 10, expanding possible vaccination coverage in Pima County.

Garcia reported that 73.1% of vaccine-eligible populations (12 and older) have at least one dose of vaccine.

Garcia said the greatest rise in reported COVID cases came from young and middle aged adults.

“We see the greatest growth in this middle age group 20 to 44, there were 858 additional cases, representing 41% of the total cases from one week to the next,” Garcia said.

Garcia’s assessment was echoed by Banner Health Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Marjorie Bessel, who said that a majority of COVID patients at Banner Health are in the 20 to 65 age group—and 90% are unvaccinated.

Bessel asked the public to consider getting the vaccine even if they had COVID once before.

“Studies have shown that reinfection rates are 2.34 times more likely in those who remain unvaccinated, which is why vaccination is still recommended by the CDC and medical community even if you’ve had COVID,” Bessel said.

Getting the vaccine is especially important as the Delta variant takes America by storm. Bessel reported that the Delta variant accounts for 99.1% of all coronavirus circulating in the United States.



Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Posted By on Wed, Sep 1, 2021 at 6:45 AM

click to enlarge The results are in: Standardized test scores fell during pandemic year
James Anderson/Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Standardized test scores in Arizona fell across the board last school year, as COVID-19 upended learning through the year and led to a sharp drop in the number of students taking the tests, the Arizona Department of Education said.

Results released by the department Friday showed that 38% of students got “satisfactory” grades on the language test and 31% passed the math test in 2021, compared to 42% for both tests in 2019, the last year for which test results are available.

The department warned that results from the pandemic year “need to be viewed with extreme caution” when compared to other years.

“When considering the results of students who did take the test, it is important to remember the learning disruptions from COVID-19 that may have impacted student learning in unforeseen ways,” the department said in a note released with the data.

It also pointed out that “a significant number of students did not take the test” last year. Close to 740,000 students took both tests in 2019, but just 520,912 took the math test last school year and 511,679 took the language skills test.

The AzM2 test, formerly known as AzMerit, and the Multi-State Alternate Assessment test are given to students in grades three through eight and grade 10. Besides measuring student progress, the AzM2 scores are typically used by the Education Department to assign letter grades to state schools, ranking their performance against others in the state.

But state lawmakers last year suspended the use of the standardized tests for the ranking of schools, while still requiring that the test be administered to students. And Gov. Doug Ducey ordered that the students’ scores still be evaluated to “identify the extent of learning loss” during the pandemic year.

Despite concerns that school administrators and state officials can rely too heavily on standardized test scores to assess school performance, advocates said the results of last year’s tests could prove important.

“Standardized tests are an important piece of data, but outside of a pandemic it still doesn’t tell the full story,” said Erin Hart, senior vice president for Education Forward Arizona. “We over-relied on it as a state. It’s really the only data policymakers and people at the state level have, and it has its importance, but it’s not the end-all, be-all.”



Thursday, August 26, 2021

Posted By on Thu, Aug 26, 2021 at 1:00 AM

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Posted By on Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 6:45 AM

click to enlarge Surge in COVID-19 puts state on pace to hit 1 million cases next week
Ethan Steinquest/U.S. Army

WASHINGTON – Arizona is on pace to record its 1 millionth COVID-19 infection within the next week, and health experts fear that kids in schools and the looming Labor Day holiday will only make matters worse.

The Arizona Department of Health Services reported 979,580 cases as of Friday and its data shows that the state had been averaging 2,941 new cases every day over the past week, as the highly contagious delta variant continued its spread.

Another 53 people died Friday from COVID-19 in Arizona, bringing the death toll in the state to 18,561.

Despite the surge in new cases, health experts said that Arizona continues to lack aggressive mitigation efforts that they said could stem the tide.

“For some time, you certainly haven’t been as aggressive with mask-wearing and vaccination,” Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said of the state.

State officials have refused to issue a mask mandate and Gov. Doug Ducey this week issued an order banning local governments from enforcing vaccination requirements. That came the same week that Ducey unveiled a “relief program” that would direct federal COVID-19 funds to schools that do not enforce mask mandates.

Given the lax mandates in the state, Benjamin said residents have an even greater “degree of personal responsibility” for fighting the virus, especially with the upcoming Labor Day holiday that he expects will worsen exposure.



Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Posted By on Tue, Aug 17, 2021 at 3:04 PM

Following advice from the Centers for Disease Control, the Pima County Health Department announced Tuesday that immunocompromised people should get a COVID booster shot.

Qualifying people, such as those taking an immune-suppressing medication, can get the third shot 28 days after completing the initial Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines. People who are not deemed immunocompromised are yet not eligible for the booster. 

The CDC recommends the third shot for moderately to severely immunocompromised individuals. On Friday, the CDC said the booster would benefit compromised people by building a stronger resistance to COVID-19. 

The third dose has only been approved to follow the Pfizer/Moderna vaccines. It is also recommended people receive the same brand of vaccine and booster shots. If your brand is unavailable, the other booster shot can be used.

Pfizer vaccines have been approved for people 12 and older while Moderna is approved for people 18 and older.

Pima County will be offering the Pfizer and Moderna booster shots at the following locations:

Theresa Lee Public Health Center, 1493 W. Commerce Court
  • Monday, Tuesday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Wednesday: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
North Clinic, 3550 N First Ave.
  • Monday: 8 a.m. to noon
  • Wednesday, Friday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Thursday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
East Clinic, 6920 E. Broadway Blvd.
  • Monday, Thursday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Tuesday: 8 a.m. to noon
  • Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Abrams Public Health Center, 3950 S. Country Club Road
  • Monday-Saturday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Walter Rogers Clinic, 175 W. Irvington Road
  • Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Find a mobile vaccination event at pima.gov/covid19vaccine

Request a home vaccination through the Pima County at-home vaccine interest form online or call 520-222-0119. 

Monday, August 16, 2021

Posted By on Mon, Aug 16, 2021 at 9:00 AM

click to enlarge Guest opinion: Congress must act to make contraceptives more accessible
monkeybusinessimages, Bigstock

Accessing contraceptives is a health necessity for many women. Contraceptives help prevent unwanted pregnancy while reducing the risk of diseases including endometrial, ovarian, and colorectal cancers. However, finding and obtaining the right contraceptive method often places an undue financial burden on women, particularly low-income women.

One of the many achievements for patients in the Affordable Care Act was defining contraceptive as an essential health benefit that could be covered at no cost under the bill. This has led to a dramatic decrease in costs for most contraceptives and a dramatic increase in contraceptive use.

Unfortunately, while the Affordable Care Act mandates coverage across the full range of contraceptive methods, it does not mandate coverage across the full range of FDA-approved contraceptive products, and, despite the intent of the bill, contains loopholes that allow insurance companies to deny coverage of certain products to women who need them and shift costs onto patients.

Why does this matter? Not every contraceptive product is right for every woman. Different products have different side effects interactions with other medications and conditions that impact women to varying extents, and some products that are effective for one woman may not work at all for another.



Friday, August 13, 2021

Posted By on Fri, Aug 13, 2021 at 9:34 AM

click to enlarge Guest opinion: Ducey, Arizona legislature must repeal anti-science, anti-mask law now — or cause more deaths
Courtesy Banner Health

Arizona is going through “Groundhog Day” with the COVID-19 pandemic: People are getting sick, again. Arizona is once more in a COVID surge, just like a year ago — but with two notable differences. Last summer, schools reopened in the setting of slowly declining COVID rates; right now, COVID cases and hospitalization rates are continuing to dramatically rise. In addition, schools are now left without key tools for keeping students and educators safe.

Since the outbreaks we saw in July 2020 and throughout the winter months, the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature passed, and Gov. Doug Ducey signed, a law taking away local control from schools that want to implement science-based safety protections such as wearing masks. As parents, physicians, and public health experts, we have one simple message for them: Get rid of this senseless law now, which endangers the lives of children, teachers, school staff and their neighbors and loved ones.

This law will prevent what we all want: for children to be able to safely and consistently remain physically present in schools, and for parents to be able to safely keep working. Children who fall ill with or who are exposed to COVID-19 will need to quarantine at home, and their parents or guardians will need to remain at home to quarantine with them, preventing them from going to work. If schools are prohibited from requiring universal masking together with other mitigation strategies, expect to see repeated outbreaks and increasing absences from both schools and other workplaces for 10 to 14 day stretches throughout the school year.

Furthermore, this law is an overreach by the state, setting a dangerous precedent in preventing public health agencies from leading us through the current and future public health crises. To keep people safe, we need credible and qualified public health professionals providing guidance based on the most up to date science during a public health crisis — not legislators, a lame duck Governor, or political appointees more concerned about partisanship than the health of their citizens.

Physicians, nurses, and all healthcare workers are exhausted from being expected to clean up the mess that results from this hostility towards evidence based public health measures, as well as attacks on our integrity from political pawns. Physicians specifically take an oath to do no harm, and are held to the highest ethical and practice standards of any profession. To deliberately undermine the work of those who have dedicated their lives to saving others during one of the worst pandemics in modern history is not just tragic, but inexcusable.



Posted By on Fri, Aug 13, 2021 at 1:00 AM