Upper respiratory disease in deployed U.S. Navy shipboard personnel.
A study was conducted to determine the risk of upper respiratory disease among deployed U.S. Navy shipboard personnel. Between January and June 1989, a Patient Encounter Form was used to collect disease information from 10 U.S. Navy ships. Patients with a diagnosis of upper respiratory infection (URI) on initial sick-call visit were used in this study. Information on time spent in various ports and time at sea for each of the 10 ships was also collected. A classification scheme was developed to permit daily estimates of URI rates and to indicate whether the ship was in port or at sea. Of 967 cases of URI, 64.4% occurred while at sea, with an average daily rate of 0.5/1,000 crew members; 35.4% of the cases occurred while in port, with an average daily rate of 0.4/1,000 crew members. There was an increase in URI rates after 9 days at sea or in port. These data suggest that there are defined periods of increased transmission of upper respiratory infections aboard ships, both at sea and in port.
Cross
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Epidemiology Division, Naval Medical Research Institute, Rockville, MD 20852.
Hermansen
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Pugh
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White
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Hayes
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Hyams
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D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008889:Military Personnel; D009326:Naval Medicine; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012767:Ships; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology