title: A prospective study of acute diarrhea in a cohort of United States military personnel on deployment to the Multinational Force and Observers, Sinai, Egypt.
abstract: To better understand the epidemiology of diarrhea in deployed personnel to the Middle East, a prospective cohort study of travelers' diarrhea (TD) was conducted between May 2004 and January 2005 at the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) camp in the southern Sinai. A baseline entry questionnaire and stool specimen was provided on study entry, and volunteers were followed every 6 weeks. Of 211 volunteers, 145 (68.7%) completed one or more follow-up visits. In total, 416 follow-up surveys were completed, which described an overall incidence of 25.2 episodes per 100 person months (95% confidence interval = 21.2-30.0). Additionally, stools were collected in 72 of 77 diarrhea-associated clinic visits, with bacterial pathogens most commonly isolated (enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in 30 [42%] samples and Campylobacter jejuni in 7 [10%] samples) Despite modern preventive methods, diarrhea is still a common problem for deployed US military personnel in Egypt, frequently resulting in diminished ability to work.
authors.affiliation: United States Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3, Cairo, Egypt. mark.riddle@med.navy.mil
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Riddle
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Rockabrand
authors.forename: Carey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schlett
authors.forename: Marshall R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Monteville
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Frenck
authors.forename: Marcy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romine
authors.forename: Salwa F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Sanders
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D014195:Travel; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult