American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
-
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · May 2013
Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in foreign-born persons living in San Francisco.
In San Francisco, 70% of the tuberculosis cases occur among foreign-born persons, mainly from China, the Philippines, and Mexico. We postulate that there are differences in the characteristics and risk factors for tuberculosis among these populations. ⋯ There are differences in the characteristics and the risk factors for tuberculosis due to recent transmission among the major foreign-born and U.S.-born populations in San Francisco. These differences should be considered for the design of targeted tuberculosis control interventions.
-
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · May 2013
Advancing clinical practice and policy through guidelines: the role of the American Thoracic Society.
In the face of an overwhelmingly large and growing medical literature, providers often turn to clinical practice guidelines to inform the decisions they make with patients. By systematically appraising the evidence and providing transparent recommendations for practice, guidelines have the potential to improve both bedside decision-making and health policy. ⋯ Along with many other groups that develop guidelines, the American Thoracic Society (ATS) is rapidly evolving processes for development and implementation to meet many of the IOM standards. This Pulmonary Perspective describes the rapidly changing landscape of clinical practice guidelines, the role of the ATS in this landscape, and the activities the ATS is engaged in to ensure that the guidelines it produces are of the highest quality with the broadest impact.