‘Vaccine has been a huge success’ in Navy recruits

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U.S. Navy recruits at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center’s USS Red Rover take the adenovirus vaccine Oct. 28, 2011, during their medical in-processing. The vaccine, which is manufactured by Barr Laboratories, consists of two oral tablets. (Photo by Lt. Cmdr. Marc Herwitz)

Updated: April 3, 2012 1:57AM

NORTH CHICAGO — After a 10-year manufacturing hiatus, the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center has reinstituted giving adenovirus vaccine to Navy recruits to minimize the symptoms of febrile upper respiratory infection. The results have been remarkable, thus far.

The average number of febrile upper respiratory infection cases among Navy recruits in 2010 was 93 per week. In 2011, the average was 87 per week. In the first month of 2012, that average was reduced to 23 per week.

In the first week following the vaccination,in October, the rate of febrile upper respiratory infections went from 105 to 63 cases. The next week, it went to 26. After that, there were only 11 recruits who were treated for febrile upper respiratory infection. The vaccine had effectively cut the number of cases by 89.5 percent.

“The results are undeniable when you look at the numbers,” said Lt. Cmdr. Carolyn Winningham, Lovell FHCC preventive medicine officer. “The vaccine is fast, effective and safe. At the end of the day, our job is about keeping U.S. Navy recruits healthy and in training. So, for us, the adenovirus vaccine has been a huge success.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccine — which is currently manufactured by New Jersey-based Barr Laboratories — has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for Department of Defense personnel entering basic training.

Military basic training settings offer a distinctive environment for adenovirus to be transmitted. Prior to the vaccine, the close-quarters atmosphere would often allow an illness to spread quickly, resulting in missed training for the recruits. In turn, if a recruit is sick for too long, expensive training time may need to be lengthened.

While the two-pill vaccination is costly at $111 per dose, its effectiveness keeps healthy recruits coming into the Navy without medical delays.

According to Lovell FHCC Head of Occupational Health Medicine Mark Lesko, the DOD invested approximately $100 million over a 10-year period to bring the vaccine back to military recruits and basic trainees. Lesko explained that recruits have been receiving the vaccine for roughly 25 years, ending in the late 1990s when Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (the original manufacturer) ceased production of the vaccine due to cost effectiveness.

While the results do appear promising, Lesko points out that the long-term outcomes must be monitored.

“The reinstatement of this vaccine is certainly a public health milestone for the Department of Defense,” said Lesko. “All indications for us show that adenovirus is effectively gone from our recruit community, and we’ll be monitoring to ensure that continues.”