Published Date: 11/06/2023
Expiration Date: 10/10/2026
Preventive measures, including prophylaxis, have always been a critical part of HIV medicine. Vaccines play a special role as a scalable modality to reduce epidemic diseases worldwide. In our current times we must rebut misinformation about vaccine safety and efficacy to keep our patients fully updated with the immunizations they need to maintain optimal health. When our patients return for routine HIV or PrEP follow-up, we all have an ideal opportunity to evaluate and encourage recommended vaccines. Please join us for this update by Dr. Denise Benkel from the NYC DOH Bureau of Immunization about what we can do now. There is no time to lose!
Dr. Benkel is a graduate of Brown University, the University of Cincinnati, and the University at Albany, where she received her B.S., M.D., and M.P.H. degrees, respectively, and completed training as a preventive medicine resident with the New York State Department of Health/University at Albany School of Public Health. She served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and was stationed at the Virginia Department of Health in Richmond for the two-year program. Her work there included being part of a team that traced an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease to exposure to a display whirlpool spa and one that traced a multistate outbreak of E.coli O157:H7 to the consumption of alfalfa sprouts. Dr. Benkel has worked for the past 23 years as a medical specialist with the New York City Department of Health’s Bureau of Immunization. Her responsibilities include ensuring that providers understand and use immunization schedules correctly to vaccinate their patients as early as possible with all recommended vaccines, informing providers of new vaccines and updates to the recommendations for existing vaccines, and ensuring that immunizations are reported correctly to the Citywide Immunization Registry.
