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From the National Institutes of HealthNational Institutes of Health

MedlinePlus XML Files

MedlinePlus produces XML data sets that you are welcome to download and use. If you have questions about the MedlinePlus XML files, please contact us. For additional sources of MedlinePlus data in XML format, visit our Web services page.

If you use data from MedlinePlus XML files or build an interface that utilizes the files, please indicate that the information is from MedlinePlus.gov.

Health Topic Vocabulary

MedlinePlus produces three types of health topic vocabulary XML files. Each file covers both the English and Spanish health topics. The files are updated weekly. The most recent six weeks of files and their corresponding DTDs are linked from this page. Below are descriptions of each file type:

  • Complete MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries XML
    This file contains information on all MedlinePlus health topics including:

    • topic name
    • URL
    • creation date
    • associated vocabulary (synonyms, see references, and MeSH headings)
    • topic summary
    • topic group membership
    • language indicator


  • See the Complete MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries XML description page for definitions of tags and an example of a full record.

    MedlinePlus Topic Group XML
    This file contains information on all of the English and Spanish health topic groups on MedlinePlus.

  • MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries Delta XML
    This file contains information on the changes that occurred to the Complete MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries XML file since the previous file was released.

Files generated on April 30, 2011
Complete MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries XML  (4098 K)  (DTD, 10 K)
MedlinePlus Topic Group XML  (16 K)  (DTD, 3 K)
MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries Delta XML  (21 K, From 04/23/2011 00:00 to 04/30/2011 00:00)  (DTD, 12 K)


Files generated on April 23, 2011
Complete MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries XML  (4096 K)  (DTD, 10 K)
MedlinePlus Topic Group XML  (16 K)  (DTD, 3 K)
MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries Delta XML  (7 K, From 04/16/2011 00:00 to 04/23/2011 00:00)  (DTD, 12 K)


Files generated on April 16, 2011
Complete MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries XML  (4095 K)  (DTD, 10 K)
MedlinePlus Topic Group XML  (16 K)  (DTD, 3 K)
MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries Delta XML  (14 K, From 04/09/2011 00:00 to 04/16/2011 00:00)  (DTD, 12 K)


Files generated on April 09, 2011
Complete MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries XML  (4093 K)  (DTD, 10 K)
MedlinePlus Topic Group XML  (16 K)  (DTD, 3 K)
MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries Delta XML  (10 K, From 04/02/2011 00:00 to 04/09/2011 00:00)  (DTD, 12 K)


Files generated on April 02, 2011
Complete MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries XML  (4089 K)  (DTD, 10 K)
MedlinePlus Topic Group XML  (16 K)  (DTD, 3 K)
MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries Delta XML  (61 K, From 03/26/2011 00:00 to 04/02/2011 00:00)  (DTD, 12 K)


Files generated on March 26, 2011
Complete MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries XML  (4080 K)  (DTD, 10 K)
MedlinePlus Topic Group XML  (16 K)  (DTD, 3 K)
MedlinePlus Vocabulary and Summaries Delta XML  (25 K, From 03/19/2011 00:00 to 03/26/2011 00:00)  (DTD, 12 K)


Health Services Vocabulary

This file contains information on all of the Local Service Terms used for the Go Local Web site. The file contains

  • service terms
  • definitions and see references
  • service types for each service term

The National Library of Medicine ceased maintaining this file as of March 31, 2010. This file is for reference only.

Complete Local Service Terms Vocabulary (117 K) (DTD, 4K)