Meningococcal vaccine is administered to all basic trainees
on a year-round basis.
3-11. BACTERIAL INFECTION: STREPTOCOCCAL INFECTIONS
a. In Military Personnel. Pathogenic streptococci cause infections, which
present various clinical symptoms.
Chief among those of military importance is streptococcal sore throat, or,
if symptoms include rash, scarlet fever.
In World War II an estimated 150,000 cases of streptococcal sore throat
were hospitalized, including about 26,000 cases of scarlet fever.
b. Transmission. These infections are transmitted by direct contact with the
infected person, contaminated fomites, droplets, and probably droplet nuclei.
c. Symptoms/Diagnosis. Physical symptoms (except for the rash, if present)
are confined to the throat. For diagnosis, throat cultures should be made of all patients
with sore throats.
d. Prognosis. In the United States, the fatality rate is low and the disease itself
is less severe than in other areas, where from 3 to 5 percent of the cases terminate
fatally.
Ear infections, tonsillitis, and other complications may accompany or
follow the acute infection.
A carrier state may persist for months in certain untreated cases.
After 1 to 4 weeks, rheumatic fever, kidney infections, or other
complications may follow.
Rheumatic fever follows about 3 percent of the untreated cases of
streptococcal disease.
-- The estimated cost to the United States Government of each case of
rheumatic fever in the military is from ,000 to ,000.
Kidney infections may follow 10 percent or more of the cases, depending
on the particular strain of streptococcus responsible for the infection.
e. Prevention. Prevention of streptococcal infections and their complications
depends chiefly on:
MD0152
3-12