Reportable Medical Events at Military Health System Facilities Through Week 40, Ending October 5, 2024

Image of 5RMEs. Reportable Medical Events are documented for monitoring, controlling, and preventing the occurrence and spread of diseases of public health interest or readiness importance.

Reportable Medical Events are documented in the Disease Reporting System internet by health care providers and public health officials throughout the Military Health System for monitoring, controlling, and preventing the occurrence and spread of diseases of public health interest or readiness importance. These reports are reviewed by each service’s public health surveillance hub. The DRSi collects reports on over 70 different RMEs, including infectious and non-infectious conditions, outbreak reports, STI risk surveys, and tuberculosis contact investigation reports. A complete list of RMEs is available in the 2022 Armed Forces Reportable Medical Events Guidelines and Case Definitions.1 Data reported in these tables are considered provisional and do not represent conclusive evidence until case reports are fully validated.

Total active component cases reported per week are displayed for the top five RMEs for the previous year. Each month, the graph is updated with the top five RMEs, and is presented with the current month’s (September 2024) top five RMEs, which may differ from previous months. COVID-19 is excluded from these graphs due to changes in reporting and case definition updates in 2023.

FIGURE: This graph comprises five lines on the horizontal, or x-, axis that depict case counts for the five most frequent reportable medical event conditions among active component service members during the past 52 weeks. The horizontal, or x-, axis is divided into 52 units of measure, each representing an individual week during the preceding year. The vertical, or y-, axis is presented on a logarithmic scale, in segments of 1 through 10, then 10 through 100, and 100, through 1,000. Chlamydia remains the most common reportable medical condition, with counts consistently around 300 cases per week. In week 35 of 2024, gonorrhea again surpassed heat illnesses as the second-most common reported condition, at around 70 cases per week, with the divide between gonorrhea and heat illnesses case numbers narrowing again in week 40. Syphilis cases, with adjusted numbers for prior weeks, have returned to the rankings, with generally equivalent case numbers as norovirus, comprising the fourth and fifth most common reportable medical events, with each reporting at or just under 10 cases during the reporting period.

For questions about this report, please contact the Disease Epidemiology Branch at the Defense Centers for Public Health–Aberdeen. Email: dha.apg.pub-health-a.mbx.disease-epidemiologyprogram13@health.mil

Authors' Affiliation

Defense Health Agency, Disease Epidemiology Branch, Defense Centers for Public Health–Aberdeen

References

  1. Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division. Armed Forces Reportable Medical Events. Accessed Feb. 28, 2024. https://health.mil/reference-center/publications/2022/11/01/armed-forces-reportable-medical-events-guidelines 
  2. Defense Manpower Data Center. Department of Defense Active Duty Military Personnel by Rank/Grade of Service. Accessed Feb. 28, 2024. https://dwp.dmdc.osd.mil/dwp/app/dod-data-reports/workforce-reports 
  3. Defense Manpower Data Center. Armed Forces Strength Figures for January 31, 2023. Accessed Feb. 28, 2024. https://dwp.dmdc.osd.mil/dwp/app/dod-data-reports/workforce-reports 
  4. Navy Medicine. Surveillance and Reporting Tools–DRSI: Disease Reporting System Internet. Accessed Feb. 28, 2024. https://www.med.navy.mil/navy-marine-corps-public-health-center/preventive-medicine/program-and-policy-support/disease-surveillance/drsI  

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