Table 1 Infectious diseases during military deployments and measures implemented
From: Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases: challenges and opportunities for militaries
Operation | Year | Infectious diseases | Measures implemented |
|---|---|---|---|
American Civil War | 1861 to 1865 | Malaria [30] | Use of Quinine |
World War I | 1914 to 1918 | 1918 Influenza [31] | Improvements in respiratory hygiene and isolation |
Trench Foot [32] | Footwear modifications | ||
Foot protection (grease, borated talc and camphor) | |||
Measures to improve trench and boot drainage | |||
Tetanus [33] | Prophylactic Anti-Tetanus serum to wounded | ||
World War II | 1939 to 1945 | Use of Dakin’s solution for antisepsis | |
Use of Sulfanilamide and Penicillin | |||
Scrub Typhus [36] | Development of delousing strategies | ||
Malaria [37] | Use of Atabrine | ||
Lymphatic Filariasis [38] | |||
Korean War | 1950 to 1953 | “Korean Haemorrhagic Fever” (Hanta virus) [39] | Improvement in environmental health measures |
Vietnam War | 1953 to 1975 | Malaria and Dengue [40] | Mosquito nets and repellents, Antimalarials including Mefloquine - designed by army to counter Chloroquine resistance. |
Bubonic Plague (Yersinia pestis) [41] | Flea insecticide and repellents | ||
Immunisation with plague vaccines | |||
Protective clothing and Rat proofed dwellings | |||
Persian Gulf War | 1990 to 1991 | Preparedness against Biological Warfare [42] | Anthrax, Botulinum, Meningococcus vaccines and Hepatitis A immunoglobulins |
Operation Restore Hope | 1993 | Malaria [43] | Use of Mefloquine and Doxycycline |
Operation Enduring | 2001 to 2011 | Leishmaniasis [44] | Genus specific probe for diagnosis |
Freedom, Operation IraqiFreedom, Operation New | Treatment modalities under investigational new drug protocols | ||
Dawn | Better shelters and insect repellents | ||
Malaria [45] | Use of rapid diagnostic assays and Tafenoquine | ||
Use of rapid diagnostic assays | |||
Segregation and enforcement of hygiene | |||
Multidrug Resistant Wound infections and Nosocomial Transmission (especially Acinetobacter baumanii) [49] | Improvements in infection control practices, antibiotic restriction policies | ||
Admission surveillance cultures of wounded soldiers and contact isolation | |||
Need for new antibiotics targeting resistant Gram negative bacteria |