Use of screening tests to identify cancers before they cause symptoms can lead to earlier therapy and may improve outcomes. Screening tests for some common cancers are reviewed below.

The recent terrorist attacks on the US have led to many questions about the clinical effects, prevention and treatment of injury caused by chemical warfare agents.

The FDA has approved the marketing of RotaShield, a live oral vaccine for prevention of infantile rotavirus infection. Rotaviruses are segmented double-stranded RNA viruses that are the most common cause of severe diarrhea and dehydration in infants and young children.

In the absence of randomized studies demonstrating an impact on mortality, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has found the evidence insufficient to recommend a routine whole-body examination for melanoma and other skin cancers.

The FDA has approved florbetapir F18 (flor bay´ ta pir; Amyvid – Lilly), an intravenous radioactive diagnostic agent used with positron emission tomography (PET) scans, to estimate β-amyloid neuritic plaque density in adults being evaluated for Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other causes of cognitive decline.

Rates of meningococcal disease are highest in infancy, but until recently no meningococcal vaccine was approved for use in this age group. MenHibrix (GSK), a new conjugate vaccine that protects against Neisseria meningitidis serogroups C and Y and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), has been approved by the FDA for use in infants ≥6 weeks old and Menveo, a meningococcal vaccine already approved for patients ≥2 years old that protects against serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135, is now approved for use in infants ≥2 months old.SEROGROUPS — Five major serogroups of N. meningitidis, A, B, C,...

On April 23, 2021, on advice from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the FDA and CDC recommended that use of the Johnson & Johnson adenovirus-based COVID-19 vaccine resume despite its association with development of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). Administration of the vaccine had been paused on April 13 because of 6 reports of TTS, but after completing a data review that identified a further 9 cases associated with the formulation, the agencies concluded that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed its risks. About 7.98 million doses of the...

Revakinagene taroretcel-lwey (Encelto – Neurotech), an intravitreal allogeneic cell-based gene therapy, has been approved by the FDA for treatment of idiopathic macular telangiectasia type 2 in adults. It is the first treatment to be approved in the US for this indication.

Annual vaccination in the US against influenza A and B viruses is recommended for everyone ≥6 months old without a contraindication. Influenza vaccines available in the US for the 2024-2025 season are listed in Table 2.

Recently, full-page advertisements have appeared in the New York Times and other newspapers promoting the Viralizer (Viral Response Systems, Greenwich, CT), a heated nebulizer-sprayer device marketed for treatment of colds, sore throats, allergy and sinusitis symptoms. The device is available without a prescription for about $30 to $40.