Screening for celiac disease among the personnel in active service of an Italian Armed Force.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Celiac disease (CD) affects the 1% of the general population worldwide. Because of its clinical variability, roughly the 70% of CD patients are not correctly diagnosed and not adequately treated. Active military personnel represent an interesting cohort for a CD screening. Upon the enrollment in the Armed Forces, a complete health check is carried out to exclude any diseases. Aim of the present work is to assess the CD prevalence among the personnel of Carabinieri Corps, an Italian armed force, through a serological screening. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Out of 291 militaries (281 M, 10 F age range: 18.2-61.5) enrolled, 2 resulted affected by CD (prevalence: 0.7%); 1 to have high serological anti-TG and EMA level without duodenal mucosal lesions and 1 to have high serological anti-TG, but not EMA. CONCLUSION: These results show that the CD prevalence among a cohort of Italian militaries is similar to that of the general population.

A snapshot global survey on side effects of COVID-19 vaccines among healthcare professionals and armed forces with a focus on headache.

BACKGROUND: New messenger RNA (mRNA) and adenovirus-based vaccines (AdV) against Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have entered large scale clinical trials. Since healthcare professionals (HCPs) and armed forces personnel (AFP) represent a high-risk category, they act as a suitable target population to investigate vaccine-related side effects, including headache, which has emerged as a common complaint. METHODS: We investigated the side-effects of COVID-19 vaccines among HCPs and AFP through a 38 closed-question international survey. The electronic link was distributed via e-mail or via Whatsapp to more than 500 contacts. Responses to the survey questions were analyzed with bivariate tests. RESULTS: A total of 375 complete surveys have been analyzed. More than 88% received an mRNA vaccine and 11% received AdV first dose. A second dose of mRNA vaccine was administered in 76% of individuals. No severe adverse effects were reported, whereas moderate reactions and those lasting more than 1 day were more common with AdV (P=0.002 and P=0.024 respectively). Headache was commonly reported regardless of the vaccine type, but less frequently, with shorter duration and lower severity that usually experienced by participants, without significant difference irrespective of vaccine type. CONCLUSIONS: Both mRNA and AdV COVID-19 vaccines were safe and well tolerated in a real-life subset of HCPs and AFP subjects.