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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

History of malaria in the United States Naval Forces at war: World War I through the Vietnam conflict.

Malaria has had a major influence on military campaigns for thousands of years. In this paper we summarize the experience of U.S. Navy and Marine forces with malaria during wars of the twentieth century. During World War I, there were 4,746 new cases of malaria, 68,373 sick-days because of malaria, and 7 deaths due to malaria; during World War II, there were 113,256 new cases, 3,310,800 sick-days, and 90 deaths; and during the Korean War, there were 4,542 new cases, 50,924 sick-days, and no deaths--since most infections were with Plasmodium vivax. During the Vietnam War, there were 24,606 cases of malaria, an estimated 391,965 sick-days because of malaria, and 46 deaths due to malaria. With the worldwide resurgence of malaria, the spread of drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the emergence of chloroquine-resistant P. vivax, and the increasing resistance of Anopheles mosquitoes to insecticides, malaria continues to be an enormous threat to U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel deployed to the tropics and subtropics.

History, 20th Century↗

Mortality and postcombat disorders: U.K. veterans of the Boer War and World War I.

This study seeks to investigate the mortality rates of U.K. servicemen with postcombat syndromes following the Boer War and World War I. Random samples of veterans awarded war pensions for either disordered action of the heart (DAH) or neurasthenia/shellshock were compared with gunshot wounded ex-servicemen as controls. The destruction of pension records has led to reliance on groups of the longest lived veterans, which diminishes their representative qualities. Study groups were matched by rank and level of disability. With the exception of DAH cases in World War I, no statistically significant difference in mortality rates was found using Cox proportional hazards. The same DAH subjects were then compared with gunshot wound controls whose disability had been assessed 20% higher, and no statistically significant difference was seen. The reason why World War I veterans with DAH had a reduced life expectancy remains unclear, although it is possible that physician bias in assessment and the termination by the Ministry of Pensions of awards granted to healthy cases may have been factors. Postcombat disorders suffered by U.K. servicemen after the Boer War and World War I were not generally associated with an increased mortality.

Europe↗

Cirrhosis mortality among former American prisoners of war of World War II and the Korean conflict: results of a 50-year follow-up.

In our earlier, 30-year follow-up of American prisoners of war (POWs) of World War II and the Korean conflict, we found evidence of increased cirrhosis mortality. Using federal records, we have now extended our follow-up to 50 years (42 years for Korean conflict veterans) and have used proportional hazards analysis to compare the mortality experience of POWs with that of controls. Compared with their controls, World War II POWs had a 32% higher risk of cirrhosis mortality (statistically significant), and mortality risk was higher in the first 30 years of follow-up and also among those aged 51 years and older. Korean POWs had roughly the same risk of cirrhosis mortality as their controls. Neither self-reported data on alcohol consumption nor supplemental morbidity data satisfactorily explained the differences in risk between POWs and controls, although there was evidence that POWs tended to have higher rates of hepatitis, helminthiasis, and nutritional deprivation.

Case-Control Studies↗

New Zealand military nurses fight for recognition: World War One-World War Two.

This article examines the battle undertaken by New Zealand's military nurses to gain recognition as officers. The fight to win this battle took from just prior to World War One to mid-way through World War Two-twenty seven years. Issues such as male domination of the military and the government, the generally accepted work of women in war and the lack of knowledge concerning nursing's professionalism combined to create a situation whereby practical recognition of the nurses did not take place until visual alterations were made to uniforms in 1941.

Career Mobility↗

Evidence of hepatitis virus infection among Australian prisoners of war during World War II.

A sample of Australian male veterans of World War II was surveyed after 40 years. One hundred and seventy veterans had been held by the Japanese as prisoners of war and 172 veterans had served in southeast Asia but had not been taken captive (non-prisoners of war). A medical history was obtained and a physical examination undertaken. Blood was drawn and analysed for standard liver biochemistry and serological markers of hepatitis A and B virus (HAV, HBV) infections. The prevalence of immunoglobulin (Ig)G class antibodies to HAV was 95.2% in non-prisoners of war and 93.3% in prisoners of war. Only three cases of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seropositivity were identified (two cases from the prisoner-of-war group). Thirty-six (21.8%) prisoners of war were seropositive for the presence of antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs) and 34 (20.0%) prisoners of war for that of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), compared with 16 (9.8%) and eight (4.7%) of the non-prisoners of war, respectively (P = 0.002 and P = 0.0001, respectively). Those veterans who reported jaundice during World War II had a higher prevalence of antibodies to HBV. Among prisoners of war who were forced to work on the Burma-Thailand railway, 24.1% were seropositive for anti-HBc compared with 11.1% of the remaining prisoners of war (P = 0.048). It would appear that hepatitis B was common in prisoners of war but that those who survived 40 years were able to clear the virus and do not appear to have significant liver disease.

Asia, Southeastern↗

Malnutrition and subsequent ischemic heart disease in former prisoners of war of World War II and the Korean conflict.

The harsh treatment of former prisoners of war (POWs) of World War II and the Korean conflict resulted in severe malnutrition. Although rarely linked to specific long-term medical problems, a specific marker of malnutrition, self-reported lower limb edema (presumably due to a vitamin B deficiency) was associated with a three-fold increase in subsequent death attributed to ischemic heart disease (IHD) during the follow-up period from 1967 through 1975. Although there is at present no medical basis for linking edema, which is perhaps a marker for some unmeasured risk factor, to subsequent IHD, this finding may nonetheless have medical implications for the group of former POWs and other populations with severe dietary deficiency. It also suggests there may be a need to reexamine currently held theories on malnutrition and subsequent chronic disease.

Edema↗

Long-term heart disease and stroke mortality among former American prisoners of war of World War II and the Korean Conflict: results of a 50-year follow-up.

For the first 30 years after repatriation, former American prisoners of war (POWs) of World War II and the Korean Conflict had lower death rates for heart disease and stroke than non-POW veteran controls and the U.S. population, but subsequent morbidity data suggested that this survival advantage may have disappeared. We used U.S. federal records to obtain death data through 1996 and used proportional hazards analysis to compare the mortality experience of POWs and controls. POWs aged 75 years and older showed a significantly higher risk of heart disease deaths than controls (hazard ratio = 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.56), and their stroke mortality was also increased, although not significantly (hazard ratio = 1.13; 95% confidence interval, 0.66-1.91). These results suggest that circulatory disease sequelae of serious, acute malnutrition and the stresses associated with imprisonment may not appear until after many decades.

Aged↗

Canadian occupational therapists' contributions to prisoners of war in World War II.

BACKGROUND: A small number of Canadian occupational therapists provided materials to prisoners of war who were experiencing occupational deprivation in German camps during World War II. Although the occupational therapy contribution was relatively minor relative to the overall efforts of assistance to prisoners of war, it represented dedication, commitment and further sacrifice at a time when occupational therapists faced difficult choices. METHOD: An historical research method approach was employed to gather information from primary sources found in the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy archives. Secondary sources were also consulted to provide additional background information. This paper outlines the need and context for the response, method of organization, materials sent, challenges experienced, and impact that this effort had on both POWs and the occupational therapists themselves. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This account may inform and inspire current day occupational therapists who are considering the implications of occupational deprivation within frameworks of social and occupational justice.

History, 20th Century↗

Aviation medicine in the United Kingdom: from the end of World War I to the end of World War II, 1919-1945.

This is the second of three brief papers that summarize the history of Aviation Medicine in the Royal Air Force. British aviation medicine research was rescued from the doldrums of retrenchment after the end of the First World War by the need to support attempts on world records for height and speed. Despite this, the outbreak of the Second World War still found the British inadequately prepared. This part of the account of British aviation medicine research charts its transition from an organization with three full-time workers into a thriving research institute.

Aerospace Medicine↗

Perspectives on history: Army dietitians in the European, North African, and Mediterranean theaters of operation in World War II.

World War II necessitated the mobilization of hundreds of dietitians to serve in military hospitals in the United States and in theaters of war all over the globe. Although initially military dietitians had civilian status, on December 22, 1942, Congress passed Public Law 828, which authorized military status for Army dietitians with relative rank in the Medical Department for the duration of the war and 6 months thereafter. This article chronicles the role of Army dietitians who supported the allied troops in military hospitals in England, Europe, and North Africa during World War II. Recollections of military dietitians who served in the war are included to illustrate the circumstances under which these professionals lived and the dedication with which they worked.

Africa, Northern↗

Chemical-warfare techniques for insect control: insect 'pests' in Germany before and after World War I.

During World War I, chemical-warfare practices were introduced into economic entomology in Germany. Fritz Haber, 'the father of chemical warfare', realized that Germany could not win the war and thus looked for 'civilian' uses for his chemical arsenal. Before the war, there was a rhetoric of dangerous 'masses' of insects but the large-scale techniques needed to deal with them had not been developed. The gap between rhetoric and practices enabled entomology to integrate chemical weapons into its working methods. This article traces transformations in the ways of seeing insects and their control from the mid-nineteenth century to after World War I.

Animals↗