Publications by authors named "Katherine Kotas"

This report presents the rates of maternal syphilis among pregnant women and congenital syphilis among newborns in the Military Health System (MHS) beneficiary population from 2012 to 2022. Medical encounter data from military hospitals and clinics as well as civilian health care facilities were obtained from the Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS) to determine pregnancies, live births, and confirmed diagnoses of maternal and congenital syphilis. The rate of maternal syphilis in female MHS beneficiaries increased by 233% between 2012 (n=123, 66.

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Over the 5-year surveillance period, from July 2019 through June 2024, the crude incidence rate of any cold weather injury was 31.1 per 100,000 person-years (p-yrs) for the active component and 6.4 per 100,000 persons for the reserve component of the U.

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The most serious types of heat illnesses, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, are occupational hazards associated with many of the military's training and operational environments. These illnesses can typically be prevented by appropriate situational awareness, risk management strategies, along with effective countermeasures. In 2023, the crude incidence of heat stroke and heat exhaustion were 31.

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Abstract: A total of 254 febrile acute respiratory disease (ARD) cases were identified among Army basic trainees in 2022. No Army basic training installations met the definition for an ARD or Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcus outbreak in 2022. The inclusion of afebrile ARD data in the surveillance program identified an additional 1,696 cases in which a trainee met the criteria for a case of ARD, except for an oral temperature of 100.

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Introduction: This study estimated the direct medical and indirect costs associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnoses among U.S. active duty (AD) Army service members (SMs).

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Article Synopsis
  • The EpiData Center has monitored blood lead levels (BLL) in Department of Defense pediatric beneficiaries since 2011, analyzing data from lab tests stored in the Composite Health Care System.
  • Over the period from 2010 to 2017, they conducted 177,061 tests on 162,238 children, but only 1,334 (0.79%) results were deemed elevated.
  • Generally, the percentage of children with elevated BLLs decreased for all service affiliations, indicating successful implementation of standardized surveillance methods by the CDC and the Department of the Navy.
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