Patterns of health care seeking of Gulf War registry members prior to deployment.

Following the Gulf War (GW), large numbers of individuals reported illness that they attributed to exposures encountered during the GW deployment. In response, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense established programs and registries for the evaluation and documentation of GW-related illness. We obtained registrants' medical records, which contained information on outpatient encounters during the 1-year period before their GW deployment, to determine whether registrants with multisymptom illness (cases) have patterns of predeployment health care seeking that are different from those of well registrants (controls). We found that subjects had significantly more predeployment outpatient visits than controls, but this varied by type of visit. Although the number of certain types of predeployment outpatient visits is significantly associated with subsequent multisymptom illness, these associations will have limited predictive value. These findings increase our understanding of multisymptom illness, especially its chronic nature, and justify doing additional studies.

Long-term sequelae of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome attributable to hantaan virus in Korean War veterans.

Health status was sought for approximately 1600 Korean War veterans who contracted hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) during deployment to Korea between 1951 and 1953. To determine whether long-term sequelae were present for these individuals, mortality and morbidity data were collected from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Social Security Administration, and the National Death Index records. Control subjects were selected from military units in Korea with no reported cases of HFRS. Those with HFRS had a slightly higher mortality rate (33.2%) than did noninfected individuals (32.0%), but this difference was not statistically significant. Non-Caucasian cases had significantly higher morbidity rates than did non-Caucasian controls only for transient ischemic attacks (4.8% versus 0%) and diabetes mellitus (19.3% versus 8.1%). In conclusion, HFRS did not increase mortality rates in this cohort but might have had an impact on selected morbidity outcomes.

An outbreak of hookworm infection associated with military operations in Grenada

During 1983, a multinational military intervention took place on Grenada. After deployment, troops from several U.S. Army units noted signs and symptoms consistent with soil-transmitted helminthic infection. Of 684 soldiers screened five to seven weeks post-development, over 20 percent reported abdominal pain and/or diarrhea during or after the action. Eosinophilia of at least 10 percent was observed in 119 (22.5 percent) of 529 soldiers evaluated further; eosinophilia of 5-9 percent was documented in another 126 (23.8 percent) of the 529 soldiers. Stool examinations confirmed hookworm infection in 35 soldiers. One case of strongyloidiasis was also documented. Infection was attributed to ground exposure near homes with compromised sanitation. Units that joined the operation after the initial assault phase were at low risk of hookworm infection. (AU)