Malaria-Associated Mortality in the Australian Defence Force during the Twentieth Century

Shanks, G. Dennis

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.16-0748

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(20 reference statements)

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“…Deployed soldiers are exposed to vector-borne diseases endemic in the deployment area. During World War I and II, soldiers in South East Asia and the Mediterranean have been infected with plasmodium species and brought the malaria to their home countries ( 52 , 53 ). Meticulous preventive medicine measures–including pesticides and chemoprophylaxis–were successfully containing and in some countries eradicating the disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does climate change transform military medicine and defense medical support?

Robinson

Khorram‐Manesh

Arvidsson

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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BackgroundClimate change has effects on multiple aspects of human life, such as access to food and water, expansion of endemic diseases as well as an increase of natural disasters and related diseases. The objective of this review is to summarize the current knowledge on climate change effects on military occupational health, military healthcare in a deployed setting, and defense medical logistics.MethodsOnline databases and registers were searched on August 22nd, 2022 and 348 papers retrieved, published between 2000 and 2022, from which we selected 8 publications that described climate effects on military health. Papers were clustered according to a modified theoretical framework for climate change effects on health, and relevant items from each paper were summarized.ResultsDuring the last decades a growing body of climate change related publications was identified, which report that climate change has a significant impact on human physiology, mental health, water- and vector borne infectious diseases, as well as air pollution. However, regarding the specific climate effects on military health the level of evidence is low. The effects on defense medical logistics include vulnerabilities in the cold supply chain, in medical devices functioning, in need for air conditioning, and in fresh water supply.ConclusionsClimate change may transform both the theoretical framework and practical implementations in military medicine and military healthcare systems. There are significant knowledge gaps on climate change effects on the health of military personnel in operations of both combat and non-combat nature, alerting the need for prevention and mitigation of climate-related health issues. Further research within the fields of disaster and military medicine is needed to explore this novel field. As climate effects on humans and the medical supply chain may degrade military capability, significant investments in military medical research and development are needed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does climate change transform military medicine and defense medical support?

Robinson

Khorram‐Manesh

Arvidsson

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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“…8 Australian soldiers who were not POW had low malaria mortality rates (< 100 deaths during the entire war or case fatality rate < 1/1,000) despite very high malaria infection rates, indicating that even in isolated areas of New Guinea, good medical care was available once evacuation occurred. 16 Modern examples include Indonesian transmigrants traveling from nonendemic Java to hyperendemic Papua. For unexplained reasons, the risk of severe malaria (7.5/100 person years) was much more common in Indonesian adults (2.8-fold higher CI: 2.1-3.8) than children living in the same place.…”

Section: Robert Hardie Third Malayan Volunteer Field Ambulance 1943mentioning

confidence: 99%

Malaria-Associated Mortality in Australian and British Prisoners of War on the Thai–Burma Railway 1943–1944

Shanks

2019

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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During the building of the Thai-Burma railway in 1943 Australian and British prisoners of war died at high rates from tropical infections and nutritional deficiencies. Mortality records from "F" Force (n = 7,000) showed nearly half (44%) of the soldiers perished in a single year, yet only 4% of these deaths were primarily attributed to malaria, with another 7% where malaria was listed as a major contributing cause. Case fatality rates were < 1%, with nearly all soldiers chronically infected with Plasmodium vivax > Plasmodium falciparum. Separate labor camp point prevalence malaria rates by microscopy ranged from 28% to 69% (median 54%) despite intermittent quinine suppression. During complex public health emergencies, malaria mortality may be disguised by its combination with other common infections and nutritional deficiencies.

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“…Throughout the Southwest Pacific region, malaria occurrence has a wide distribution, being found from the Moluccas (Indonesia) in the west to Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu ( Beebe et al 2013 , World Health Organization 2021 ). This is a major concern for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) when deploying soldiers to this region for training and humanitarian aid efforts ( Shanks 2017 ). The primary malaria vector in these countries is Anopheles farauti Laveran, 1902 ( Cooper and Frances 2002 , Cooper et al 2002 , 2009 , Beebe et al 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative assessment of a novel fan box trap for collecting Anopheles farauti and culicine mosquitoes alive in tropical north Queensland, Australia

Chow,

Cooper,

Lokhorst

et al. 2024

Journal of Medical Entomology

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During preliminary mosquito surveys at Cowley Beach Training Area in north Queensland, Australia, it was found that the utility of the standard encephalitis virus surveillance (EVS) trap for collecting the malaria vector Anopheles farauti (Laveran) adults was compromised by the harsh tropical conditions. With the aim of increasing the survival rate of mosquitoes, we designed a downdraft fan box trap (FBT) that incorporated a screened fan at the bottom of the trap, so mosquitoes did not have to pass through a fan. The FBT was tested against the EVS and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps, where mosquitoes do pass through a fan, and a nonpowered passive box trap (PBT). We conducted 4 trials to compare the quantity and survival of An. farauti and culicine mosquitoes were collected in these traps. Although not significant, the FBT collected more An. farauti than the EVS trap and PBT and significantly less An. farauti than the CDC light trap. However, the FBT improved on the CDC light trap in terms of the survival of An. farauti adults collected, with a significantly higher percentage alive in the FBT (74.6%) than in the CDC light trap (27.5%). Thus, although the FBT did not collect as many anophelines as the CDC, it proved to be superior to current trap systems for collecting large numbers of live and relatively undamaged mosquitoes. Therefore, it is recommended that FBTs be used for collecting An. farauti adults in northern Australia, especially when high survival and sample quality are important.

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Malaria-Associated Mortality in the Australian Defence Force during the Twentieth Century

Cited by 4 publications

References 14 publications

Does climate change transform military medicine and defense medical support?

Does climate change transform military medicine and defense medical support?

Malaria-Associated Mortality in Australian and British Prisoners of War on the Thai–Burma Railway 1943–1944

Comparative assessment of a novel fan box trap for collecting Anopheles farauti and culicine mosquitoes alive in tropical north Queensland, Australia

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