Infectious diseases related aeromedical evacuation of French soldiers in a level 4 military treatment facility: A ten year retrospective analysis

SummaryBackgroundInfectious diseases are a frequent cause of morbidity in French troops deployed abroad. They are usually minor in severity and managed by field practitioners. We aimed to describe the etiological spectrum of travel-related infections in French soldiers evacuated to a level 4 military treatment facility.MethodsWe evaluated the diagnoses of all service members who were medically evacuated from abroad to our infectious diseases department from January 1, 2004 to October 30, 2013.ResultsOne hundred and twenty five cases, median age 32 years were referred, 117 (94%) were male and 78 (62%) were from the Army. Main areas of deployment were Africa in 80 cases (64%), Afghanistan in 15 cases (12%), and French Guiana in 10 cases (8%). Median time between initial consultation and hospitalization in the reference center was 5 days (IQ 2–7 d). Thirty (24%) immediate aeromedical evacuations were carried out. The top five diagnoses were Plasmodium falciparum malaria (30), fever of unknown origin (15), cerebro-meningeal infections (10), invasive amebiasis (9), and HIV primary infections (9). Thirteen individuals were admitted in ICU. No death was recorded.ConclusionsInfectious diseases were a rare of cause of medevac. Most of them were preventable. Lethal etiologies were represented by malaria and cerebro-meningeal infections.