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Reportable Medical Events at Military Health System Facilities Through Week 44, Ending November 4, 2023

Image of 5RMEs. MSMR publishes a monthly RME update for active component service members and MHS beneficiaries.

12/1/2023 By: Matthew W. R. Allman, MPH; Anthony R. Marquez, MPH; Katherine S. Kotas, MPH

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Reportable Medical Events are documented in the Disease Reporting System internet by health care providers and public health officials throughout the Military Health System for monitoring, controlling, and preventing the occurrence and spread of diseases of public health interest or readiness importance. These reports are reviewed by each service’s public health surveillance hub. The DRSi collects reports on over 70 different RMEs, including infectious and non-infectious conditions, outbreak reports, STI risk surveys, and tuberculosis contact investigation reports. A complete list of RMEs is available in the 2022 Armed Forces Reportable Medical Events Guidelines and Case Definitions.1 Data reported in these tables are considered provisional and do not represent conclusive evidence until case reports are fully validated.

This graph comprises five lines on the horizontal, or x-, axis that depict case counts for the five most frequent reportable medical event conditions among active component service members during the past 52 weeks. Chlamydia remains the most common reportable medical condition, with counts consistently around 300 cases per week. Gonorrhea is generally the second-most common reported condition, averaging approximately 80 cases per week, but in week 26 of 2023 it was surpassed by heat illness, which outnumbered gonorrhea cases for the next eight of nine weeks, but declined to the same number gonorrhea cases by the end of week 35 and has been declining steadily thereafter. Campylobacteriosis cases rose briefly at the end of week 34 to become the fourth-most common reported condition,but declined in number through week 39 to again become the fifth-most common condition, with a temporary spike in week 40, followed by further declines thereafter, through week 44. With the overall decline of heat illnesses starting in week 35, syphilis reclaimed the position of the third-most common condition in week 44, with just over 10 reported cases per week.

Total active component cases reported per week are displayed for the top five RMEs for the previous year. Each month, the graph is updated with the top five RMEs, and is presented with the current month’s (October 2023) top five RMEs, which may differ from previous months. COVID-19 is excluded from these graphs due to changes in reporting and case definition updates in 2023.

For questions about this report, please contact the Disease Epidemiology Branch at the Defense Centers for Public Health–Aberdeen. Email: dha.apg.pub-health-a.mbx.disease-epidemiologyprogram13@health.mil

Authors' Affiliation

Defense Health Agency, Disease Epidemiology Branch, Defense Centers for Public Health–Aberdeen

References

  1. Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division. Armed Forces Reportable Medical Events. Accessed Sep. 6, 2023. https://health.mil/Reference-Center/Publications/2022/11/01/Armed-Forces-Reportable-Medical-Events-Guidelines
  2. Defense Manpower Data Center. Department of Defense Active Duty Military Personnel by Rank/Grade of Service, October 31, 2022. https://dwp.dmdc.osd.mil/dwp/app/dod-data-reports/workforce-reports
  3. Defense Manpower Data Center. Armed Forces Strength Figures for January 31, 2023. https://dwp.dmdc.osd.mil/dwp/app/dod-data-reports/workforce-reports
  4. Navy Medicine. Surveillance and Reporting Tools–DRSI: Disease Reporting System Internet. https://www.med.navy.mil/Navy-and-Marine-Corps-Force-Health-Protection-Command/Preventive-Medicine/Program-and-Policy-Support/Disease-Surveillance/DRSI

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