Several new screening and vaccine recommendations for HIV, cholesterol, and
human papillomavirus (HPV) have been released for the pediatric population.
HIV screening
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published new recommendations for
screening children for HIV. The
new recommendations include routine screening for adolescents in areas where
HIV prevalence in the patient
population exceeds 0.1 percent and in emergency departments and urgent care
facilities in high-prevalence areas. Visit the Pediatrics website (the
"Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics") for more
information.
Cholesterol screening
The National Institutes of Health recommend that children be routinely screened
for high cholesterol to identify early risks of developing heart disease in
adulthood. The new guidelines, supported by the AAP, also include
recommendations to optimize cardiovascular health, beginning with breastfeeding
and protecting children from tobacco smoke. The complete list of
recommendations is available on the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
website.
HPV vaccination
New recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention call
for administering the HPV vaccine to male children as young as nine years. The
recommendations define eligible age groups and the type of HPV vaccine that
should be administered (bivalent or quadrivalent). For more information, read
the Vaccines to Prevent Human Papillomavirus document on the CDC website.
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