Risk assessment and prevention of malaria among Italian troops in Afghanistan, 2002 to 2011.

Background: Malaria prevention policy is different among coalition troops in Afghanistan, ranging from the combined use of suppressive and terminal chemoprophylaxis to the absence of any prophylactic regimen. The objective of this study was to assess the compliance with malaria prevention measures and the risk of malaria among Italian troops in Afghanistan.

Methods: Target population was the cohort of 32,500 army soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, 2002 to 2011; eligible subjects were the 21,900 soldiers stationed in endemic areas, who were prescribed mefloquine chemoprophylaxis.

[Cancer incidence in the military: an update].

An abnormally elevated rate of Hodgkin's lymphoma was reported in 2001 among Italian soldiers in Bosnia and Kosovo since 1995: a surveillance system was therefore set up for the military community. Preliminary results for a longer period (1996-2007) have shown incidence rates lower than expected for all malignancies. No significant difference was registered between observed and expected cases of Hodkin's lymphoma: the excess of reported cases for this malignancy in 2001-2002 was probably due to a peak occurred in 2000 among the whole military; it is therefore unrelated to deployment in the Balkans, and probably represents a chance event.

Evaluation of cancer surveillance completeness among the Italian army personnel, by capture-recapture methodology.

Objective: This study provides an assessment of completeness of cancer surveillance and incidence estimates for all malignancies, Hodgkin's lymphoma and thyroid cancer in the Italian army, for the years 2001-2007.

Methods: The two-source capture-recapture method was employed, using both Chapman's and Chao's formulae, on the basis of cancer notifications from military hospitals and unit infirmaries. The estimated incident cases were then confronted with the corresponding expected cases; the standardized incidence ratios and 95% confidence intervals (SIR [95% CI]) were then calculated.

Cancer surveillance in Italian army peacekeeping troops deployed in Bosnia and Kosovo, 1996-2007: preliminary results.

Objective: An excess of cancer cases was reported in 2000 among Italian troops involved in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. A preliminary assessment of cancer risk in this cohort was done for the period 1996-2007, based on cancer surveillance activity, which was started in 2001.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was done among 27361 Italian Army soldiers deployed in Bosnia, 31052 deployed in Kosovo, and a control group of non-deployed soldiers, whose number varies from 130275 in 1996 to 40967 in 2007.