Dengue and US military operations from the Spanish-American War through today.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Gibbons RV
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3309667 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:ObjectiveTo identify the impact of the first world war on the lifespan of participating military personnel (including in veterans who survived the war).DesignComparison of two cohorts of military personnel, followed to death.SettingMilitary personnel leaving New Zealand to participate in the first world war.ParticipantsFrom a dataset of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces, we randomly selected participants who embarked on troopships in 1914 and a comparison non-combat cohort who departed on troopships in late 1918 (350 in each group).Main outcome measuresLifespan based on dates of birth and death from a range of sources (such as individual military files and an official database of birth and death records).ResultsA quarter of the 1914 cohort died during the war, with deaths from injury predominating (94%) over deaths from disease (6%). This cohort had a significantly shorter lifespan than the late 1918 "non-combat" cohort, with median ages of death being 65.9 versus 74.2, respectively (a difference of 8.3 years shown also in Kaplan-Meier survival curves, log rank P<0.001). The difference for the lifespan of veterans in the postwar period was more modest, with median ages of death being 72.6 versus 74.3, respectively (a difference of 1.7 years, log rank P=0.043). There was no evidence for differences between the cohorts in terms of occupational class, based on occupation at enlistment.ConclusionsMilitary personnel going to the first world war in 1914 from New Zealand lost around eight years of life (relative to a comparable military cohort). In the postwar period they continued to have an increased risk of premature death.
| S-EPMC4266957 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Immunotherapy of cancer had its early beginnings in the times when the elements of the immune system were still poorly characterized. However, with the progress in molecular biology, it has become feasible to re-engineer T cells in order to eradicate tumour cells. The use of synthetic chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) helped to re-target and simultaneously unleash the cytotoxic potential of T cells. CAR-T therapy proved to be remarkably effective in cases of haematological malignancies, often refractory and relapsed. The success of this approach yielded two Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals for the first "living drug" modalities. However, CAR-T therapy is not without flaws. Apart from the side effects associated with the treatment, it became apparent that CAR introduction alters T cell biology and the possible therapeutic outcomes. Additionally, it was shown that CAR-T approaches in solid tumours do not recapitulate the success in the haemato-oncology. Therefore, in this review, we aim to discuss the recent concerns of CAR-T therapy for both haematological and solid tumours. We also summarise the general strategies that are implemented to enhance the efficacy and safety of the CAR-T regimens in blood and solid malignancies.
| S-EPMC7466082 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Does political polarization impact decisions to go to war? This paper explores how differences in casualty sensitivity by political party in the USA may present different incentives to wartime leaders. Using three survey experiments, I assess the relationship between party, ideology, casualty sensitivity and support for war. Results indicate that conservatives are less likely to change their support in response to increases in casualties, while liberals are much more likely to be sensitive to casualties. Further, this result appears to be primarily attributable to ideology, as opposed to partisan preference, generating different incentives regarding war strategy by political party. As polarization increases, these trends are likely to become more pronounced, with significant implications for when and how states fight wars. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1057/s41311-022-00378-9.
| S-EPMC8926088 | biostudies-literature
Project description:We identified dengue in ≈51% of patients given a clinical diagnosis of suspected dengue in Taiz, Yemen, during 2016. The cosmopolitan genotype of dengue virus type 2 was most common; viruses appeared to have originated in Saudi Arabia. Damage to public health infrastructure during the ongoing civil war might enable dengue to become endemic to Yemen.
| S-EPMC6590741 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundMilitary service is associated with smoking initiation, but U.S. veterans are also eligible for special social, financial, and healthcare benefits, which are associated with smoking cessation. A key public health question is how these offsetting pathways affect health disparities; we assessed the net effects of military service on later life pulmonary function among Korean War era veterans by childhood socio-economic status (cSES).MethodsData came from U.S.-born male Korean War era veteran (service: 1950-1954) and non-veteran participants in the observational U.S. Health and Retirement Study who were alive in 2010 (average age = 78). Veterans (N = 203) and non-veterans (N = 195) were exactly matched using coarsened exact matching on birth year, race, coarsened height, birthplace, childhood health, and parental and childhood smoking. Results were evaluated by cSES (defined as maternal education <8 yr/unknown or ≥8 yr), in predicting lung function, as assessed by peak expiratory flow (PEF), measured in 2008 or 2010.FindingsWhile there was little overall association between veterans and PEF [β = 12.8 L/min; 95% confidence interval (CI): (-12.1, 37.7); p = 0.314; average non-veteran PEF = 379 L/min], low-cSES veterans had higher PEF than similar non-veterans [β = 81.9 L/min; 95% CI: (25.2, 138.5); p = 0.005], resulting in smaller socio-economic disparities among veterans compared to non-veterans [difference in disparities: β = -85.0 L/min; 95% CI: (-147.9, -22.2); p = 0.008].DiscussionKorean War era military service appears to disproportionately benefit low-cSES veteran lung functioning, resulting in smaller socio-economic disparities among veterans compared with non-veterans.
| S-EPMC6119642 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The purpose of this article is to discuss various factors associated with successful handling of mass casualties in the field with special reference to the airborne military operations. Various limitations specific to airborne operations are highlighted. Stress is laid on the importance of variables as they effect medical support and planning. Various analgesics, both opiates and non opiates including role of subanaesthetic doses of ketamine are discussed. Adequate knowledge and experience in wide ranging field techniques including improvisations is stressed. The facts are placed in a specific, original context through which new insight can be derived. The feasibility of incorporating light weight modern equipments in field anaesthesia are also brought out.
| S-EPMC5531871 | biostudies-other
Project description:Secondary traumatic stress (STS) has been studied in therapists, spouses, and mainly in children of traumatised individuals. To date, the relationship between children's posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and their parents' mental health outcomes have been understudied, and specifically, long term STS symptoms of parents of war veterans were not investigated. The current study examined PTSD symptoms among veterans of the 2014 Israel-Gaza war and STS among their parents, five years after the war. The control group consisted of veterans from combat military units who were on active duty at the time of the war but did not actively participate in the war (stand-by units) - providing a natural experiment condition. We found that PTSD symptoms were almost twice as high in the directly active war veterans (DAV, N = 32) group compared to the indirectly active war veterans (IAV, N = 26) group. Results showed that mothers had higher STS symptoms in general, and DAV PTSD symptoms correlated with their fathers STS symptoms. The current study provides novel evidence for: (a) subclinical PTSD symptoms in war veterans 5 years after the war, and (b) transmission of trauma from war veterans to their parents. The overall negative effect of sending a child to war on the parents are also discussed.
| S-EPMC10375916 | biostudies-literature
Project description:French Army Health Service provides medical support for armed forces deployed on external missions.In order to ensure the same health care quality in the theatre and in the metropolis, the Military Health Service provides sterilization of reusable medical devices by its own means. Army pharmacists carrying out an on-site mission comes from different domains: medical biology laboratory, research, medical supplies, hospital pharmacy or yet pharmaceutical laboratory for some reservists. Training program for sterilization in isolated military operations areas is therefore necessary in order to ensure knowledge uniformity. Our study is organized in two parts: determination of the needs and of the adapted training modalities, then implementation of training itself. This training should be accessible to a geographically dispersed public whose levels of expertise in sterilization are disparate. The module «Préparation opérationnelle à la stérilisation en Opération Extérieure» carried out allows to update and standardize the knowledge of the deployed pharmacists. It is composed of 11 sub-modules covering the different aspects of sterilization during external missions. Assessment using multiple-choice questions (MCQ) is necessary to check the level of knowledge and to understanding at the end of the training. A 75% good response rate is requested to validate the training. Training content has been approved by the National referents for sterilization and it is already available on the e-learning platform of the École du Val de Grâce.
| S-EPMC5491762 | biostudies-other
Project description:More than a year after the first identification of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as the causative agent of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China, the emergence and spread of genomic variants of this virus through travel raise concerns regarding the introduction of lineages in previously unaffected regions, requiring adequate containment strategies. Concomitantly, such introductions fuel worries about a possible increase in transmissibility and disease severity, as well as a possible decrease in vaccine efficacy. Military personnel are frequently deployed on missions around the world. As part of a COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy, Belgian Armed Forces that engaged in missions and operations abroad were screened (7683 RT-qPCR tests), pre- and post-mission, for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, including the identification of viral lineages. Nine distinct viral genotypes were identified in soldiers returning from operations in Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, and Mali. The SARS-CoV-2 variants belonged to major clades 19B, 20A, and 20B (Nextstrain nomenclature), and included "variant of interest" B.1.525, "variant under monitoring" A.27, as well as lineages B.1.214, B.1, B.1.1.254, and A (pangolin nomenclature), some of which are internationally monitored due to the specific mutations they harbor. Through contact tracing and phylogenetic analysis, we show that isolation and testing policies implemented by the Belgian military command appear to have been successful in containing the influx and transmission of these distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants into military and civilian populations.
| S-EPMC8310367 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundAustere fracture immobilization equipment and techniques are often overlooked, with few studies critically evaluating the process. The purpose of this study was to evaluate current austere splinting techniques and equipment used for lower extremity fractures while field testing a new 1-step spray-on foam splint.MethodsThis is a prospective analysis of austere splinting techniques. A cadaveric model with a distal third tibia-fibula fracture was used for testing. The specimens were placed in an austere environment and participants immobilized the injury with standard equipment (structural aluminum malleable [SAM] splint, 6-in. ACE wrap) while being critically evaluated. The specimens were also immobilized with a 1-step in-situ foam splint.ResultsTwenty-one military Special Operations medical personnel participated. Each participant was observed and scored by a single orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon using a Likert scale based on 10 splinting criteria. Standard splinting resulted in an average score of 32.2 (range, 5-50), with significant deficiencies in fracture traction (1/5), fracture motion (2.9/5), protection of neurovascular structures (3/5), and soft tissue manipulation (3/5). The average time to completion was 203 seconds, with 1 splint failure. The spray-on foam splinting technique yielded a significantly higher score of 48.5 while completing the task significantly faster (68 seconds), with no failures.ConclusionSpecial Operations medical personnel demonstrated success in immobilizing a complex fracture with standard techniques in a cadaveric model. However, testing demonstrated the inherent inability of the SAM splint to provide longitudinal traction while simultaneously allowing excessive fracture motion and potential injury to the soft tissues. In comparison, our spray-on foam proof of concept technique eliminated motion by allowing an in situ application with adequate rigidity.Clinical relevanceThis experiment included a likert scale to critically evaluate splinting techniques and equipment. It reliably tested standard splinting equipment and a 1-step in-situ foam splint for distal third tibia-fibula fractures.
| S-EPMC8697082 | biostudies-literature