HHS Issues Action Plan To Prevent Health Care-Associated Infections

"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled a plan that establishes a set of five-year national prevention targets to reduce and possibly eliminate health care-associated infections (HAIs). Health care-associated infections are infections that patients acquire while undergoing medical treatment or surgical procedures. These infections are largely preventable.

In addition to the tremendous toll on human life, the financial burden attributed to these infections is staggering. HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately 1.7 million HAIs occurred in U.S. hospitals in 2002 and were associated with 99,000 deaths. CDC also estimates that HAIs add as much as $20 billion to health care costs each year.

HHS intends to update the plan in response to public input and new recommendations for infection prevention. The plan, and instructions for submitting comments on the plan, can be found online at http://www.hhs.gov/ophs"

Ref. Medical News Today (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com)

2009 Adult Immunization Schedule

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) annually reviews the recommended Adult Immunization Schedule to ensure that the schedule reflects current recommendations for the licensed vaccines. In October 2008, ACIP approved the Adult Immunization Schedule for 2009. No new vaccines were added to the schedule; however, several indications were added to the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine footnote, clarifications were made to the footnotes for human papillomavirus, varicella, and meningococcal vaccines, and schedule information was added to the hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccine footnotes.

Additional information is available as follows: schedule (in English and Spanish) at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/adult-schedule.htm; adult vaccination at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/default.htm; ACIP statements for specific vaccines at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccine/pubs/acip-list.htm; and reporting adverse events at http://www.vaers.hhs.gov or by telephone, 800-822-7967.

Ref. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recommended adult immunization schedule---United States, 2009. MMWR 2008;57(53).