We will in a short time publish so...

We will in a short time publish some reading that you may want to add to your "must do" list--watch for an upcoming update forward bioterrorism in the May 1 issue of AFP. This article reviews the six biologic disease agents considered of highest priority through the Working Group on Civilian Biodefense: anthrax, smallpox, plague, turalemia, botulism and viral hemorrhagic excitements The authors of the article are Karen K O'Brien, LTC MC USA, Mark L Higdon, MAJ, MC USA, and Jaime J Halverson, CPT MC USA, Martin Army Community Hospital, Fort Benning, Ga.

The article furnishs diagnosis, treatment, and response strategies for the six biologic agents that embarrass the highest threat. These agents are principally likely to be used in a bioterrorism attack because of the ease of dissemination or transmission, their potential to cause widespread panic, and the resource-consuming guidance responses that are required to investigate and manage an attack.

The article provides a number of resources, including summary tables showing prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, and use of vaccines and antibiotics in women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. The article also includes a table listing online resources, including the American Academy of Family Physicians bioterrorism Web page at www.aafp.org/btresponse.xml and the Center for Disease have the direction of and Prevention (CDC) page at wwwbtcdcgov

The May 1 article will be accompanied according to an editorial on bioterrorism preparedness for family physicians, written on Helga E. Rippen, M.D., PhD RAND Science and Technology Policy Institute, Arlington, Va., Elin Gurskey ScD ANSER Institute for Homeland Security, Arlington, Va., and Michael Stoto, PhD RAND Science and Technology Policy Institute. The authors point disclosed that family physicians and other primary care clinicians have a critical responsibility to the community in expressions of prevention, detection, treatment, and education before, during, and after a terrorist fact Family physicians must cooperate with local health departments to make secure proper medical response to in the same state [i]or[/i] condition outbreaks. The authors provide a list of responsibilities for family physicians responding to as it is cases, including contacting local and state health departments immediately when they attack suspicious cases (www.statepublichealth.org).

In this issue of AFP, you will find a summary of CDC guidelines for diagnosing and treating adverse reactions to smallpox vaccination in the preoutbreak setting. (See "Practice Guidelines" onward page 1827.) The guidelines are also available at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5204a1.htm.

For convenient access to timely topics, you might want to hold fast in mind that AFP's articles are available online a scarcely any days before the printed issues hit the mail stream. You will find the bioterrorism update at www.aafp.org/afp in the first week of May.

You may find it helpful to preview AFP's bimonthly offerings of topics by means of receiving the table of peaces via e-mail. AFP's e-mail table of eases will alert you when issues are made available online and also provide convenient links to articles and departments. To receive AFP's table of peaces via e-mail, all you ne to do is click upon the e-mail table of peaces logo at www.aafp.org/afp and provide your e-mail address.

COPYRIGHT 2003 American Academy of Family Physicians

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group