Association between barracks type and acute respiratory infection in a gender integrated Army basic combat training population

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the leading cause of acute morbidity and lost work time in the United States. Few studies have looked at building design and transmission of ARIs. This study explores the association of ventilation design, room occupancy numbers, and training week with ARI rat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Military medicine 2011-08, Vol.176 (8), p.909-914
Main Authors: White, Duvel W, Feigley, Charles E, McKeown, Robert E, Hout, Joseph J, Hebert, James R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acute Disease
Adolescent
Adult
Air conditioning
Armed forces
Disease
Female
Gender
Heating
Humans
HVAC
Illnesses
Indoor air quality
Infections
Male
Military Facilities
Military Personnel
Military training
Pathogens
Pneumonia
Respiratory Tract Infections - epidemiology
Respiratory Tract Infections - transmission
Ventilation
Young Adult
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Summary:Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the leading cause of acute morbidity and lost work time in the United States. Few studies have looked at building design and transmission of ARIs. This study explores the association of ventilation design, room occupancy numbers, and training week with ARI rates in Army Basic Combat Training barracks. This observational study captured the overall incidence of ARI in a cohort of 16,258 individuals attending basic combat training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. ARI risk was higher among trainees living in the 60-person room barracks compared with those living in 8-person rooms, which increased rapidly for the first few weeks of training and then declined to baseline. Findings support direct contact as primary ARI transmission mode in this study population based on observed lower ARI risk in smaller room barracks and similar risk in large room barracks despite heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system variability.
ISSN:0026-4075
1930-613X
DOI:10.7205/MILMED-D-10-00418