Bacterial contamination of war wounds occurs either at the time of injury or during the course of therapy. Characterization of the bacteria recovered at the time of initial trauma could influence the selection of empiric antimicrobial agents used to prevent infection. In the spring of 2004, U.S. military casualties who presented to the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, with acute traumatic injuries resulting in open wounds underwent aerobic culture of their wounds to identify the bacteria colonizing the wounds. Forty-nine casualties with 61 separate wounds were evaluated. Wounds were located predominantly in the upper and lower extremities and were primarily from improvised explosive devices or mortars. Thirty wounds (49%) had bacteria recovered on culture, with 40 bacteria identified. Eighteen casualties (20 wounds) had undergone field medical therapy (irrigation and/or antimicrobial treatment); six of these had nine bacterial isolates on culture. Of the 41 wounds from 31 patients who had received no previous therapy, 24 grew 31 bacteria. Gram-positive bacteria (93%), mostly skin-commensal bacteria, were the predominant organisms identified. Only three Gram-negative bacteria were detected, none of which were characterized as broadly resistant to antimicrobial agents. The only resistant bacteria recovered were two isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Our assessment of war wound bacterioly soon after injury reveals a predominance of Gram-positive organisms of low virulence and pathogenicity. The presence of MRSA in wounds likely reflects the increasing incidence of community-acquired MRSA bacteria. These data suggest that the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics with efficacy against more resistant, Gram-negative bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp., is unnecessary in early wound management.

The predominant bacteria and antimicrobial susceptibilities were surveyed from a deployed, military, tertiary care facility in Baghdad, Iraq, serving U.S. troops, coalition forces, and Iraqis, from August 2003 through July 2004. We included cultures of blood, wounds, sputum, and urine, for a total of 908 cultures; 176 of these were obtained from U.S. troops. The bacteria most commonly isolated from U.S. troops were coagulase-negative staphylococci, accounting for 34% of isolates, Staphylococcus aureus (26%), and streptococcal species (11%). The 732 cultures obtained from the predominantly Iraqi population were Klebsiella pneumoniae (13%), Acinetobacter baumannii (11%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10%); coagulase-negative staphylococci represented 21% of these isolates. These differences in prevalence were all statistically significant, when compared in chi2 analyses (p < 0.05). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing demonstrated broad resistance among the Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.

Compared with placebo, a short course of eszopiclone during the first 2 weeks of CPAP improved adherence and led to fewer patients discontinuing therapy.

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Respiratory symptoms were common among both asthmatics and nonasthmatics during deployment. Differences in symptoms and health care utilization in this group of asthmatics were primarily due to subjects with poor baseline control.

Transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD) is a rare but well-established fatal complication of blood transfusion. It can occur in immunocompetent patients when they receive transfusions from human leukocyte antigen-haploidentical donors who have lymphocytes with antigens that are not recognized as foreign by the host, but that recognize the host's tissues as foreign. It is generally viewed as a T-cell-mediated process. Graft-induced immune hemolysis or passenger lymphocyte syndrome is a well-described complication of marrow or solid organ transplantation in which immune competent donor B cells produce alloantibodies to recipient red blood cell (RBC) antigens and cause hemolysis of the recipient's RBCs. It is generally considered as a separate process from GVHD, although it could be considered a type of GVHD. Despite the theoretical possibility of both a B-cell and T-cell component to TA-GVHD, detection of a humoral antibody in cases of acute TA-GVHD has not been described. We describe the clinical course and laboratory evaluation of a group A combat trauma patient who was acutely resuscitated with group O fresh whole blood and RBCs and group AB fresh-frozen plasma who experienced the onset of the clinical symptoms of TA-GVHD as well as the onset of hemolysis due to donor-derived anti-A in his plasma 11 days after transfusion.

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A previously healthy 24-year-old man presented with a 2-day history of fever, myalgias, nausea, and vomiting. On the morning of hospital admission, cough and progressive dyspnea developed in the patient. He denied other symptoms, including chest pain, abdominal pain, or sore throat. This military recruit had been participating in field training in southern New Mexico for 2 weeks prior to presentation and had previously been living in Maricopa County, AZ. He lived in field barracks but denied sick contacts, and no other members of his unit were ill. He reported no contact with household or farm animals, rabbits, birds, or toxins, and he denied the use of illicit drugs. Physical ExaminationAt presentation, he had a pulse rate of 130 beats/min, BP of 130/85 mm Hg, a respiratory rate of 36 breaths/ min, and a temperature of 39.3°C. The patient was alert but in moderate respiratory distress. Chest auscultation revealed bilateral rales in the middle and lower lung fields. The cardiac examination findings were normal except for tachycardia. There was no jugular venous distention, peripheral edema, skin rash, or nodules. The conjunctiva were normal. Laboratory and Radiographic FindingsThe hemogram showed a WBC count of 24,400 cells/L, a hemoglobin concentration of 19 g/dL, and a platelet count of 89,000 cells/L. The manual differential count of peripheral blood leukocytes showed 66% segmented neutrophils, 22% band forms, 5% normal lymphocytes, and 5% atypical lymphocytes. Coagulation study findings and albumin concentration (3.7 g/dL) were normal; aspartate aminotransferase concentration was 76 IU/L, creatinine concentration was 1.3 mg/dL, and arterial blood gas measurements with the patient breathing room air showed the following: pH, 7.46; Pco 2 , 29 mm Hg; Po 2 , 47 mm Hg; and oxygen saturation, 77%.Chest radiographic findings revealed bilateral infiltrates involving all lung fields (Fig 1). A contrastenhanced CT scan of the chest showed no embolism;