Meningococcal disease in infants: a potentially difficult and serious diagnosis.

Most children with meningococcal disease have apparent clinical signs of illness, but some do not initially present with clinical toxicity. These children with unsuspected meningococcal disease may potentially be discharged after outpatient evaluation and may deteriorate rapidly. We present the case of a 15-week-old infant boy who was brought to a private physician with symptoms of a common cold and was sent home.

Symptomatic respiratory syncytial virus infection in previously healthy young adults living in a crowded military environment.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a potentially important cause of acute respiratory illness in many populations, including military recruits receiving basic training. Understanding the full impact of RSV infection is challenging because of difficulties in diagnosis and the limitations of past epidemiologic studies. In this study, we set out to determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of RSV infection and infection caused by other common viral agents in a population of previously healthy young adults, namely, military recruits receiving basic training.

An outbreak of pneumococcal pneumonia among military personnel at high risk: control by low-dose azithromycin postexposure chemoprophylaxis.

In the winter of 1998-1999 an outbreak of pneumococcal pneumonia occurred among Ranger students undergoing high-intensity training. Thirty pneumonia cases (attack rate = 12.6%) were identified among a group of 239 students.