Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi released the Final Report of her Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns. The report contains 15 recommendations for prevention, intervention, best practices and treatment for protecting babies from prescription drug abuse. The Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns, which includes representatives from Healthy Start… Read More

Mother-to-infant HIV transmission by  breast milk is more common in women who become infected late in their pregnancy or during lactation, according to a policy statement published by the Committee on Pediatric AIDS in Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatric’s official journal. One study showed the risk of  HIV transmission from breast milk was only… Read More

Despite one of the highest perinatal HIV exposure rates in the state, no HIV-infected babies were born in Northeast Florida in 2012, according to preliminary data from the Florida Department of Health, HIV Prevention Section. More than 54 babies — 46 of them in Jacksonville — were born to HIV+ mothers last year.  The five-county… Read More

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices published its recommended vaccination schedules for persons aged 0 to 18 and adults 19 years and older for 2013. The ACIP is a federal advisory committee comprised of medical and public health experts which provide advice and guidance on vaccines to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and… Read More