Need larger text?

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.

11/1/2024 By: Matthew W.R. Allman, MPH; Anthony R. Marquez, MPH; Katherine S. Kotas, MPH; Idalia Aguirre, MPH

Share this page

Social Media Links

Other Social Media

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  

You also may be interested in...

Topic
Aug. 11, 2026

Medical Surveillance Monthly Report

The Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, a peer-reviewed journal launched in 1995, is the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division's flagship publication. The MSMR provides monthly evidence-based estimates of the incidence, distribution, impact, and trends of health-related conditions among service members.

Article
July 1, 2026

Surveillance snapshot: Telehealth services among active component members of the U.S. Armed Forces, 2021–2025

Photo by Christina Clarke, U.S. Naval Hospital Naples: The Urology department head at USNH Rota, Spain, waves to staff in USNH Naples, Italy during a virtual cystoscopy between both hospitals. This work must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright

This brief annual summary presents trends in telehealth service use among members of the active component of the U.S. Armed Forces, using Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS) outpatient and demographic records from January 2021 through December 2025 and identifies the 10 most frequent diagnoses addressed via telehealth.

Recommended Content Medical Surveillance Monthly Report
Report
July 1, 2026

MSMR Vol. 33 No. 6 -7 - June-July 2026

.PDF | 3.23 MB

The June-July 2026 MSMR presents the annual burden of morbidity issue, with data and analysis of absolute and relative morbidity burdens due to illnesses and injuries in 2025 among U.S. active component and reserve service members, as well as Military Health System beneficiaries.

Recommended Content Medical Surveillance Monthly Report
Article
July 1, 2026

Morbidity burdens attributable to various illnesses and injuries among deployed active and reserve component members of the U.S. Armed Forces, 2025

Photo by U.S. Central Command Public Affairs: U.S. sailors observe flight quarters on the flight deck of Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun (DDG 103). This work must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright

This annual summary utilizes data from the Theater Medical Data Store (TMDS) to document service member health care encounters during deployments to four theaters of operation, U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Central Command, U.S. Pacific Command, and U.S. Southern Command, where large concentrations of U.S. service members are deployed without access to ...

Recommended Content Medical Surveillance Monthly Report
Article
July 1, 2026

Absolute and relative morbidity burdens attributable to various illnesses and injuries among active component members of the U.S. Coast Guard, 2025

Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Thieme, U.S. Coast Guard East: A U.S. Coast Guard 29-foot Response Boat-Small from Coast Guard Station Portsmouth transits near the Port of Virginia. This work must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright

This annual summary quantifies the impacts of various illnesses and injuries among members of the active component of the U.S. Coast Guard in 2025, employing the same disease classification system and morbidity burden measures as in the general active component burden analysis report.

Recommended Content Medical Surveillance Monthly Report
Report
May 1, 2026

MSMR Vol. 33 No. 5 - May 2026

.PDF | 2.07 MB

The May 2026 MSMR features four full reports and a brief report, beginning with the annual update of heat exhaustion and heat stroke among U.S. active component service members, 2021–2025; complemented by the annual updates on exertional rhabdomyolysis and exertional hyponatremia among active component service members, 2021–2025; followed by the ...

Recommended Content Medical Surveillance Monthly Report
Refine your search