Internists endorse 2007-08 adult immunization schedule and publish in Annals of Internal MedicineOctober 19, 2007The American College of Physicians (ACP), with membership of 124,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students, endorses the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) adult immunization schedule for 2007-2008 and publishes the recommendations on the Web site of its flagship journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, on October 18. This is the first time the journal has published the recommendations. The CDC has released the Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule each year since 2002 to guide physicians and other clinicians about the appropriate vaccines for their adult patients. The schedule does not include travel-related vaccines. "Vaccines and immunizations are not just for kids," said Sandra Fryhofer, MD, a member of the ACP Adult Immunization Advisory Board and an Atlanta physician in private practice. "And flu shots aren't the only vaccines adults should get." New information in this year's adult immunization schedule: * Vaccination for varicella (chickenpox) is now recommended for all adults with no evidence of immunity to varicella. * Vaccination for zoster (shingles) has been added to the list of vaccines for adults age 60 or older, regardless of whether they report having a prior episode of shingles. "Physicians should be aware of the schedule, know that it has been recently updated and advise their patients of the appropriate vaccines. Patients should ask their physician about adult immunization and what vaccines are appropriate for them," said Dr. Fryhofer. To reinforce the importance of the adult immunization guidelines, ACP will notify its members of the guidelines through its monthly magazine, ACP Observer. The organization hopes to make the full text of the guidelines and chart available at Internal Medicine 2008, ACP's annual scientific meeting, in Washington, DC. In an accompanying editorial, Gregory A. Poland, MD, and William Schaffner, MD, also members of ACP's Adult Immunization Advisory Board, point out the almost 50,000 Americans die of vaccine-preventable diseases each year and that 99 percent of them are adults. They say that it will be difficult to achieve the same level of success in adult immunization as the U.S. childhood immunization program, but actions such as endorsement by the American College of Physicians and publication in Annals of Internal Medicine are "an important step." The new schedule, "Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule. United States October 2007-September 2008," appears online at the Web site of Annals of Internal Medicine www.annals.org. It will be published in the Nov. 20, 2007, print edition of the journal. American College of Physicians |
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| Related Immunization Current Events and Immunization News Articles PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative shares strategy for developing 'next-generation' malaria vaccines Marking its tenth anniversary year, the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) today unveiled a new strategy that sets the stage for an aggressive push targeting the long-term goal of eliminating and eradicating malaria. Malaria is one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, killing nearly 900,000 people a year, most of them children in sub-Saharan Africa. Progress made on group B streptococcus vaccine Scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have completed a Phase II clinical study that indicates a vaccine to prevent Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is possible. Pandemic flu vaccine campaigns may be undermined by coincidental medical events The effectiveness of pandemic flu vaccination campaigns - like that now underway for H1N1 - could be undermined by the public incorrectly associating coincidental and unrelated health events with the vaccines. Older Patients with Dementia at Increased Risk for Flu Mortality An epidemiological study on pneumonia and influenza (P&I) in adults age 65 and over reports that patients with dementia are diagnosed with flu less frequently, have shorter hospital stays, and have a fifty percent higher rate of death than those without dementia. Flu shots not to be sneezed at Two in five at-risk American adults who would benefit from vaccination against seasonal flu are missing out on the protective shots because they believe they do not need them and are not inclined to be vaccinated. MedImmune to present data on RSV and influenza at 2009 AAP National Conference and Exhibition MedImmune announced today it will present four abstracts at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2009 National Conference & Exhibition that add to the company's growing body of research on the burden of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) on children, as well as pediatric infectious disease prevention. Outfoxing pox: Developing a new class of vaccine candidates In the annals of medicine, Edward Jenner's 1796 vaccination of a young boy against smallpox, using fluid from cowpox blisters, remains a landmark case. In a new study, Kathryn Sykes, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute and her colleagues have taken a fresh look at cowpox. African cattle to be protected from killer disease Millions of African families could be saved from destitution thanks to a much-needed vaccine that is being mass-produced in a drive to protect cattle against a deadly parasite. Protect Children First With H1N1 Flu Vaccine, Says UAB-Based National Pediatric Disease Expert The optimal way to control swine flu, the new H1N1 virus that emerged as a global threat in 2009, is to vaccinate children with the planned H1N1 flu shot, says the co-director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Pregnant women need flu shots Pregnant women should be sure to get all their flu shots as soon as the vaccines become available this year to protect them against both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 (swine) flu, according to eight leading national maternal and infant health organizations. More Immunization Current Events and Immunization News Articles |
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