Recommendations for a regional strategy for the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases in the Americas.

lar blood products. The guidelines also recommend that Toxoplasma-seropositive HIV-infected persons who have a CD4+ lymphocyte count <100 cells/μL received chemoprophylaxis against toxoplasmosis (such chemoprophylaxis is generally accomplished with anti-Pneumocystis carinii medication). Earlier recommendations for chemoprophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and Mycobacterium avium complex disease have also been updated. In addition to disease-specific recommendations, the guidelines include an overview article designed to prioritize the recommendations for health care providers. This article provides an approach to the initial and follow-up evaluations of the HIV-infected patient and also contains sections on HIV-infected pregnant women and HIV-exposed/infected children. The guidelines are followed by 15 background articles, which provide the information on which the recommendations were based and include research priorities generated by the development of the prevention recommendations. The guidelines conclude with quality standards and implementation steps on the most standard-ofcare recommendations, such as chemoprophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. This final section provides a mechanism by which health care facilities can assess their degree of compliance with the recommendations, so that they can detect and correct compliance-related problems. An abbreviated version of the USPHS/IDSA Guidelines will be published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report in July.