Respiratory Infections

Acute respiratory infections (ARI) remain a significant threat and burden to the health of military forces worldwide. Conducting studies of the epidemiology, treatment and prevention of ARI has been a high priority mission of the IDCRP. The emergence in 2009 of a novel influenza A virus (H1N1), and its rapid ascension to pandemic status, highlighted the tremendous impact of ARI, particularly influenza, on military as well as on civilian populations. For IDCRP, the evolution and rise of pandemic H1N1 was a major catalyst in the formation of a multi-site, multi-disciplinary research effort, termed the Acute Respiratory Infection Consortium (ARIC). With support from the NIAID as well as the DoD-Global Emerging Infection Surveillance (DoD-GEIS) program, the ARIC established a clinical research core for ARI at five military treatment facilities across the US, and strengthened existing ties with IDCRP-collaborating institutions, particularly the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC).