Recommended adult immunization schedule, United States, 2020

In October 2019, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to approve the Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule for Ages 19 Years or Older, United States, 2020. The 2020 adult immunization schedule, available at www.cdc.gov/vaccines /schedules/hcp/imz/adult.html, summarizes ACIP recommendations in 2 tables and accompanying notes (Figure). The full ACIP recommendations for each vaccine are available at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/index.html. The 2020 schedule has also been approved by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and by the American College of Physicians (www .acponline.org), American Academy of Family Physicians (www.aafp.org), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (www.acog.org), and American College of Nurse-Midwives (www.midwife.org)

Distribution and high frequency of novel alleles at NF1 polymorphic markers in the Italian population

Segregation analysis of Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) intragenic polymorphisms is a useful diagnostic tool for linkage analysis in familial cases and for the exclusion/detection of deletion in sporadic patients. We performed a segregation analysis of intragenic NF1 polymorphic markers in an Italian NF1 population consisting of 17 familial and 41 sporadic cases, for a total of 79 affected and 105 unaffected individuals. The haplotype in linkage with the mutation could be identified in all of the familial cases. Furthermore, an intragenic deletion was found in one sporadic case and confirmed by means of FISH using an NF1 IVS27 specific probe generated by a novel PCR procedure. In order to determine the allele frequencies at four NF1 polymorphisms in the Italian population, the unaffected family members and 25 unrelated Italian individuals were genotyped. Allele frequencies were found to be statistically different from those in the literature for markers IVS27AC28.4 and IVS38GT53.0. In addition four novel alleles were found in four unrelated subjects, and we observed a mutation during paternal gametogenesis in one case. These data suggest that NF1 polymorphic intragenic loci are unstable. It is unclear whether or not their marked instability may enhance the high mutation rate of the NF1 gen

FarmaREL : an Italian pharmacovigilance project to monitor and evaluate adverse drug reactions in haematologic patients

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reduce patients' quality of life, increase mortality and morbidity, and have a negative economic impact on healthcare systems. Nevertheless, the importance of ADR reporting is often underestimated. The project "FarmaREL" has been developed to monitor and evaluate ADRs in haematological patients and to increase pharmacovigilance culture among haematology specialists. In 13 haematology units, based in Lombardy, Italy, a dedicated specialist with the task of encouraging ADRs reporting and sensitizing healthcare professionals to pharmacovigilance has been assigned. The ADRs occurring in haematological patients were collected electronically and then analysed with multiple logistic regression. Between January 2009 and December 2011, 887 reports were collected. The number of ADRs was higher in older adults (528; 59%), in male (490; 55%), and in non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients (343; 39%). Most reactions were severe (45% required or prolonged hospitalization), but in most cases, they were fully resolved at the time of reporting. According to Schumock and Thornton criteria, a percentage of ADRs as high as 7% was found to be preventable versus 2% according to reporter opinion. Patients' haematological diagnosis, not age or gender, resulted to be the variable that most influenced ADR, in particular severity and outcome. The employment of personnel specifically dedicated to pharmacovigilance is a successful strategy to improve the number and quality of ADR reports. "FarmaREL", the first programme of active pharmacovigilance in oncohaematologic patients, significantly contributed to reach the WHO "Gold Standard" for pharmacovigilance in Lombardy, Italy