Military medicine
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy is a major impediment to achieving herd immunity and overcoming the current pandemic. Our aim was to decrease the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy through an education intervention. ⋯ Our education intervention was effective in reducing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in a military base population. Study limitations include applications toward other military and non-military populations, the possibility of nonresponse bias, and absence of prior validated interventions. Area for future studies includes improvement upon educational intervention, development of other effective methods, and application of intervention in other populations.
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Observational Study
Anthropometrics and Body Composition Predict Physical Performance and Selection to Attend Special Forces Training in United States Army Soldiers.
Anthropometrics and body composition characteristics differentiate many types of athletes and are related to performance on fitness tests and tasks in military personnel. Soldiers competing to enter elite units must demonstrate physical fitness and operational competence across multiple events. Therefore, this study determined whether anthropometrics and body composition predicted physical performance and selection for special forces training among soldiers attending the rigorous Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) course. ⋯ Anthropometrics and body composition are predictors of physical performance and SFAS success. Since these measures are modifiable (excluding height), they may be the focus of intervention studies aiming to improve performance in arduous military training courses, sports that require competition in multiple events, and occupations that have varied physical demands, such as firefighting, law enforcement, and construction.
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Published guidelines on spirometry interpretation suggest an elevated FVC and FEV1 > 100% of predicted with an obstructive ratio may represent a physiological variant. Further evidence is needed on whether this finding indicates symptomatic airways obstruction and what additional evaluation should be done. ⋯ Normal FEV1 > 90% of predicted and obstructive indices may not represent a normal physiological variant in all patients. In symptomatic patients, a positive MCT and elevated baseline IOS values were more common than in asymptomatic patients with similar PFT characteristics. These findings suggest that clinicians should still evaluate for airway hyperresponsiveness in patients with exertional dyspnea with airway obstruction and FEV1 > 90% of predicted and consider alternative diagnoses to include a normal physiologic variant if non-reactive.
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Cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome after current or previous SARS-CoV-2 infection have been extensively documented in children. Although there has been recent recognition of a similar adult post-COVID entity known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults (MIS-A), these cases have rarely been reported. This report describes the case of a soldier in the deployed setting with a benign initial clinical presentation who rapidly developed life-threatening MIS-A.
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Medical ultrasound is based on the same principle of the piezoelectric effect as sound navigation and ranging, used by the world's navies and maritime industry. Many of the early advances in sound navigation and ranging technology influenced landmark discoveries in diagnostic ultrasound made by military officers and defense department researchers.