The ACC does not recommend that all patients with a history of fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine use undergo echocardiographic screening. However, patients without murmurs should undergo repeat physical examinations in six to eight months. The AHA also has released a statement advising patients to talk to their physicians and be examined. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has upgraded its immunization hotline services. The hotline serves both health care professionals and consumers.
Information is now available about vaccinations, vaccine-preventable diseases and vaccines.
The hotline is available from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Friday, with a voice-mail system available during other hours. These statistics were cited in the most recent federal government report on the nation's health, which reveals that injuries continue to have a significant impact on the overall health of Americans. The report contains a special section on injuries. Motor vehicle traffic injuries, firearm injuries and poisonings were the three leading causes of injury death in 1995, accounting for nearly two thirds of all injury deaths. One positive note is that age-adjusted firearm mortality decreased 11 percent between 1993 and 1995 after having increased 22 percent between 1985 and 1993.