ACIP Expands PCV13 Vaccine Recommendation to Include Immunocompromised Kids, Teens
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to expand the age recommendation for administration of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) to certain individuals during its Feb. 20-21 meeting in Atlanta. Committee members also discussed and voted on a number of other vaccine-related issues of interest to family physicians. According to Jamie Loehr, M.D., of Ithaca, N.Y., the AAFP's liaison to the ACIP, the committee voted unanimously to provisionally recommend that PCV13, which is marketed by Pfizer Inc. as Prevnar 13, routinely be given to immunocompromised, PCV13-naive children and ad...
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - February 26, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
AAFP Releases Second Choosing Wisely List of Tests, Procedures That Physicians, Patients Should Question
As part of an ongoing effort to help physicians curtail the practice of ordering unnecessary tests and procedures, the AAFP today released its second Choosing Wisely list of recommendations. For this extension of the original American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation initiative, which launched in April 2012, the Academy joined 16 other medical specialty organizations in Washington, D.C., to unveil the second wave of lists detailing various tests and treatments physicians should think twice about before performing, ordering or prescribing. AAFP Board Chair Glen Stream, M.D., M.B.I., of Spokane, Wash., represented the A...
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - February 21, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Office Champions Tobacco Cessation Report Shows Positive National Impact
The so-called office champions model embraced by the AAFP in 2010 as part of its efforts to curb tobacco use is achieving its goal of making tobacco cessation a practice priority. That's according to the just-released final report from the AAFP's 2012 Office Champions Tobacco Cessation National Dissemination Project. Building on the success of a 13-month pilot project that launched in June 2010, 49 family medicine practices from across the country were selected last spring to participate in the national dissemination project. (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - February 21, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
USPSTF Finds Evidence Is Insufficient to Make POAG Screening Recommendation
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is proposing a draft recommendation statement indicating that current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for primary open-angle glaucoma in adults. The recommendation applies only to adults without vision symptoms who are seen in a primary care setting. According to the draft statement, open-angle glaucoma affects approximately 2.5 million Americans and is a leading cause of impaired visual function and blindness. Approximately 62 percent of Medicare patients received screening for glaucoma in 2009. (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - February 19, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Evidence Insufficient to Make Recommendation on POAG Screening, Says USPSTF
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is proposing a draft recommendation statement indicating that current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for primary open-angle glaucoma in adults. The recommendation applies only to adults without vision symptoms who are seen in a primary care setting. According to the draft statement, open-angle glaucoma affects approximately 2.5 million Americans and is a leading cause of impaired visual function and blindness. Approximately 62 percent of Medicare patients received screening for glaucoma in 2009. (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - February 19, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Overuse, Misuse of Certain Ambulatory Medical Services Increasing
Although advances in the delivery of underused care were significant during the decade between 1999 and 2000, targeting and reducing inappropriate care did not see the same gains, according to a recent study in JAMA Internal Medicine (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - February 19, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Academy Invites Members to Apply for AAFP Vaccine Science Fellowship
For AAFP members interested in exploring the intricacies of vaccine science and policy, the Academy currently is offering two vaccine science fellowship positions. Applications to participate in the program will be accepted through March 15. Created to develop a group of FPs interested in and knowledgeable about vaccines and vaccine policy, the one-year fellowships are designed for those who are early in their postgraduate education careers. (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - February 13, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Study of PSA Screening Strategies Looks to Reduce Risks
"Smarter" use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening for prostate cancer may reduce risks associated with the test, says a study in the Feb. 5 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - February 11, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
New Guideline Recommends Insulin Therapy in Some Younger Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
A new clinical practice guideline from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) encourages physicians who are managing newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents ages 10-18 years to use insulin as first-line treatment for patients who present with ketosis or frank ketoacidosis, as well as for those in whom "the distinction between type 1 and type 2 diabetes is not clear." Initiation of insulin therapy also may benefit children and teens who are markedly hyperglycemic but who show no evidence of ketosis or ketoacidosis. When glycemic control is restored, many of these patients can be weaned from insulin the...
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - February 6, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Vaccination Rates Still Too Low in Adults, Says CDC
Except for modest increases in tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis vaccination overall and in human papillomavirus vaccination among women, 2011 noninfluenza adult vaccination coverage in the United States showed little improvement compared with 2010 coverage, according to the CDC's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - February 4, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Pertussis Outbreaks on the Decline, but Immunization Gaps Still Exist
Outbreaks of pertussis ballooned in regions across the United States in 2012, breaking records and causing hospitalizations and deaths. According to the CDC, more than 41,000 cases were provisionally reported in 2012, along with 18 deaths. And although report numbers may ease in 2013, the threat of whooping cough remains significant. (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - January 31, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
CDC Merges Child, Teen Immunization Schedules for 2013
Perhaps one of the more immediately noticeable changes to the 2013 immunization schedules is that the CDC has pared down the total number of schedules released by combining the previously separate child and adolescent schedules into a single 0- to 18-year schedule. Overall, the new childhood and adult schedules contain more than a dozen changes, but they should be a bit easier to follow than before, said Jamie Loehr, M.D., of Ithaca, N.Y., the AAFP's liaison to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - January 28, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Liver Injury Risk Linked to Tolvaptan Prompts FDA Warning
The FDA has issued a drug warning regarding a possible risk of "significant" liver injury associated with the use of the selective vasopressin V2-receptor antagonist tolvaptan (Samsca). The agency is urging clinicians to conduct liver tests promptly in patients who report symptoms that may indicate liver injury. (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - January 25, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
FDA Approves First Trivalent Influenza Vaccine Made Using Recombinant Technology
The FDA's recent approval of a trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine made using novel manufacturing technology marks a significant milestone in the ongoing battle against this life-threatening illness. According to a Jan. 16 FDA release, Flublok, which is approved for use in adults ages 18-49, does not rely on the traditional method of growing the targeted influenza virus strains in chicken eggs and, thus, can be produced more rapidly than current vaccines. (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - January 23, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Screen All Women of Childbearing Age for Partner Violence, Say USPSTF, AAFP
Both the AAFP and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) have updated their positions on screening for intimate partner violence, calling on physicians to screen all women of childbearing age, regardless of whether symptoms are present, and provide or refer women who screen positive to intervention services. According to family physician and USPSTF Co-vice Chair Michael LeFevre, M.D., M.S.P.H., the USPSTF was able to issue its new recommendation, which was published Jan. 22 in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Source: AAFP Health of the Public)
Source: AAFP Health of the Public - January 22, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
