Updated Framework for Development of Evidence-Based Recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)* is a federal advisory committee that provides expert advice to the Director of CDC and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the form of recommendations on the use of vaccines and related agents for control of vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.

Anemia in people on second line antiretroviral treatment in Lilongwe, Malawi: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Anemia is common among people living with HIV infection and is frequently associated with poor quality of life and poor prognosis. It has been well described in antiretroviral naïve individuals and those on non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based first line antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens. However there is limited information on anemia for ART experienced individuals on protease inhibitor-based second line ART regimens in resource limited settings.

Infant illness spanning the antenatal to early neonatal continuum in rural northern Ghana: local perceptions, beliefs and practices.

Objective: To explore community understanding of perinatal illness in northern Ghana.

Study Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study design.

Result: 253 community members participated in in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, including women with newborn infants, grandmothers and health care providers.

Birth attendants as perinatal verbal autopsy respondents in low- and middle-income countries: a viable alternative?

Objective: To assess the feasibility of using birth attendants instead of bereaved mothers as perinatal verbal autopsy respondents.

Methods: Verbal autopsy interviews for early neonatal deaths and stillbirths were conducted separately among mothers (reference standard) and birth attendants in 38 communities in four developing countries. Concordance between maternal and attendant responses was calculated for all questions, for categories of questions and for individual questions.

Causes of community stillbirths and early neonatal deaths in low-income countries using verbal autopsy: an International, Multicenter Study.

Objective: Six million stillbirths (SB) and early neonatal deaths (END) occur annually worldwide, mostly in rural settings distant from health facilities. We used verbal autopsy (VA), to understand causes of non-hospital, community-based SB and END from four low-income countries.

Study Design: This prospective observational study utilized the train-the-trainer method.

All-cause and cause-specific mortality among men released from state prison, 1980-2005.

Objectives: We compared mortality of ex-prisoners and other state residents to identify unmet health care needs among former prisoners.

Methods: We linked North Carolina prison records with state death records for 1980 to 2005 to estimate the number of overall and cause-specific deaths among male ex-prisoners aged 20 to 69 years and used standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) to compare these observed deaths with the number of expected deaths had they experienced the same age-, race-, and cause-specific death rates as other state residents.

Results: All-cause mortality among White (SMR = 2.

A pilot study of health beliefs and attitudes concerning measures of antiretroviral adherence among prisoners receiving directly observed antiretroviral therapy.

High level adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is required to achieve and maintain suppression of HIV replication. Although directly observed therapy (DOT) has been suggested as an intervention to improve adherence, there is a paucity of data describing the attitudes and beliefs regarding DOT for ART among HIV-infected individuals. This study was designed to evaluate the acceptability and psychometric properties of a survey instrument for use in assessing barriers and facilitators of adherence to ART DOT in prison.

Endoscopic anti-reflux devices: a year of challenges and change.

Purpose Of Review: Endoscopic antireflux procedures have generated much interest among clinicians and patients. These devices utilize a variety of methods in an attempt to decrease reflux of gastric contents. This work reviews the most notable results of endoscopic antireflux procedure studies published in 2005.

The perception of cancer risk in patients with prevalent Barrett's esophagus enrolled in an endoscopic surveillance program.

Background & Aims: Patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE) have a risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma of approximately 0.5% per year. Patients may have difficulty understanding this risk.

Advances in Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Despite advances in diagnosis and therapy, esophageal adenocarcinoma remains an aggressive and usually lethal tumor. This review focuses on the epidemiology of esophageal adenocarcinoma and its presumed precursor lesion, Barrett's esophagus; the pathogenesis of the cancer; advances in treatment of adenocarcinoma and Barrett's esophagus; and strategies for cancer prevention. Emphasis is placed on recent literature.

Effect of a new diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus on insurance status.

Background: Barrett's esophagus (BE) is associated with an increased risk of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Despite this increased risk, most cohort studies demonstrate that the mean life expectancy of subjects with BE is no different than age-matched controls. The indirect costs associated with a diagnosis of BE are unclear.

Intramuscular testosterone esters and plasma lipids in hypogonadal men: a meta-analysis.

Purpose: It is unclear whether intramuscular administration of testosterone esters to hypogonadal men is associated with changes in plasma lipids. We therefore analyzed 19 studies published between 1987 and 1999 that focused on male subjects with nonexperimental hypogonadism, treated subjects with an intramuscular testosterone ester and reported pretreatment and post-treatment concentrations of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or total triglyceride.

Methods: We calculated study-specific, post-treatment minus pretreatment differences in each plasma lipid concentration (mean [95% confidence interval]).