Biomaterial Database

Warm water immersion foot: still a threat to the soldier. 1997

W Humphrey, and R Ellyson

Department of the Army, Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity, Fort Benning, GA 31905-6100, USA.

We report a significant incidence of warm water immersion foot (WWIF) in a light infantry battalion during a field exercise. Four hundred soldiers belonging to this battalion were surveyed to determine the prevalence of the WWIF syndrome. One hundred forty-nine soldiers surveyed developed the WWIF syndrome. The affected soldiers had a wide range of disability, ranging from mild discomfort to the inability to ambulate. All soldiers had full recovery within 2 weeks of the injuries. Although the syndrome is self-limited, the loss of these soldiers from combat critically impaired the battalion in its mission. We present this report as a reminder that effective preventive measures should be taken prior to field exercises and deployments.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007102	Immersion Foot	A condition of the feet produced by prolonged exposure of the feet to water. Exposure for 48 hours or more to warm water causes tropical immersion foot or warm-water immersion foot common in Vietnam where troops were exposed to prolonged or repeated wading in paddy fields or streams. Trench foot results from prolonged exposure to cold, without actual freezing. It was common in trench warfare during World War I, when soldiers stood, sometimes for hours, in trenches with a few inches of cold water in them. (Andrews' Diseases of the Skin, 8th ed, p27)	Trench Foot,Immersion Feet,Trench Feet,Feet, Immersion,Feet, Trench,Foot, Immersion,Foot, Trench
D008889	Military Personnel	Persons including soldiers involved with the armed forces.	Air Force Personnel,Armed Forces Personnel,Army Personnel,Coast Guard,Marines,Navy Personnel,Sailors,Soldiers,Submariners,Military,Force Personnel, Air,Personnel, Air Force,Personnel, Armed Forces,Personnel, Army,Personnel, Military,Personnel, Navy,Sailor,Soldier,Submariner
D009784	Occupational Diseases	Diseases caused by factors involved in one's employment.	Diseases, Occupational,Occupational Illnesses,Disease, Occupational,Illnesse, Occupational,Illnesses, Occupational,Occupational Disease,Occupational Illnesse
D006254	Hawaii	A group of islands in Polynesia, in the north central Pacific Ocean, comprising eight major and 114 minor islands, largely volcanic and coral. Its capital is Honolulu. It was first reached by Polynesians about 500 A.D. It was discovered and named the Sandwich Islands in 1778 by Captain Cook. The islands were united under the rule of King Kamehameha 1795-1819 and requested annexation to the United States in 1893 when a provisional government was set up. Hawaii was established as a territory in 1900 and admitted as a state in 1959. The name is from the Polynesian Owhyhii, place of the gods, with reference to the two volcanoes Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, regarded as the abode of the gods. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p493 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p2330)	Midway Island,Midway Islands
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012189	Retrospective Studies	Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.	Retrospective Study,Studies, Retrospective,Study, Retrospective
D012720	Severity of Illness Index	Levels within a diagnostic group which are established by various measurement criteria applied to the seriousness of a patient's disorder.	Illness Index Severities,Illness Index Severity
D015995	Prevalence	The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time.	Period Prevalence,Point Prevalence,Period Prevalences,Point Prevalences,Prevalence, Period,Prevalence, Point,Prevalences