Revised adult immunization schedule released; Hep A news and recommendations

Friday's MMWR included a newly updated adult recommended immunization schedule -- PDF available here. As the introductory material details, changes made to last year's schedule are fairly minor, notwithstanding the addition of zoster vaccine (recommended for adults 55+) and an expanded recommendation for varicella (now recommended for all adults without evidence of immunity).

The same issue of MMWR included updated ACIP recommendations on postexposure prophylaxis for those exposed to Hepatitis A virus. The recommendations address the relative merits of Hep A vaccine versus immune globulin (IG) as a postexposure strategy, the subject of a randomized clinical trial ("Hepatitis A Vaccine versus Immune Globulin for Postexposure Prophylaxis") and an editorial ("Another Success for Hepatitis A Vaccine") in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.