Military medicine
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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. ⋯ 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.
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Historical Article
History of U.S. military contributions to the study of vaccines against infectious diseases.
The U. S. military has a long and illustrious history of involvement with vaccines against infectious diseases. For more than 200 years, the military has been actively engaged in vaccine research and has made many important contributions to the development of these products for use in disease prevention and control. Through the efforts of military researchers, numerous serious threats to the health of American troops and their families have been mitigated.
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Case Reports
Treatment of an acquired coagulopathy with recombinant activated factor VII in a damage-control patient.
Recombinant activated factor VII is commonly used for the treatment of hemophiliac patients with inhibitors and has been studied for use in trauma. We report the use of recombinant activated factor VII for a male patient who was injured in a motor vehicle accident. We also summarize the animal studies and clinical trials that have been reported.
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Seven hundred one patients were treated at and 394 were admitted to the 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Central Iraq during the combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ninety of those patients underwent 100 operations, with 187 procedures in 19 days. At the peak of hostilities, 48 patients were admitted, 15 operations were performed, and 56 patients were medically evacuated during different 24-hour periods. ⋯ Although 82% of injuries and 70% of the procedures were orthopedic in nature, orthopedic operating room utilization was only 60% of total operating room time (156 hours). The general and thoracic injuries were labor-intensive, frequently requiring two surgeons. Although orthopedic injury remains the predominant reason for surgical intervention on the battlefield, there remains a need to forward-deploy general and thoracic surgeons, because of the presence and complexity of nonorthopedic trauma.
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Historical Article
History of U.S. military contributions to the understanding, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases: an overview.
The contributions of U. S. military and affiliated civilian personnel to the advancement of mankind's understanding, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases are innumerable. This supplement of Military Medicine has been produced by the Armed Forces Infectious Diseases Society (AFIDS) to review and highlight the accomplishments of U. ⋯ Contributions by U. S. Armed Forces investigators to better the health of the world are documented in the 11 articles that follow.