Prevalence of contraindications to mefloquine use among USA military personnel deployed to Afghanistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mefloquine has historically been considered safe and well-tolerated for long-term malaria chemoprophylaxis, but its prescribing requires careful attention to rule out contraindications to its use, including a history of certain psychiatric and neurological disorders. The prevalence of these disorders has not been defined in cohorts of U.S. military personnel deployed to areas where long-term malaria chemoprophylaxis is indicated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Military medical surveillance and pharmacosurveillance databases were utilized to identify contraindications to mefloquine use among a cohort of 11,725 active duty U.S. military personnel recently deployed to Afghanistan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 9.6% of the cohort had evidence of a contraindication. Females were more than twice as likely as males to have a contraindication (OR = 2.48, P < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings underscore the importance of proper systematic screening prior to prescribing and dispensing mefloquine, and the need to provide alternatives to mefloquine suitable for long-term administration among deployed U.S. military personnel.</p

FERTILITY CONTROL AS A TOOL FOR REGULATION OF WILDLIFE POPULATIONS

Biological control of reproduction and fertility is a normal part of the life history of all organisms. Control mechanisms allow timing of reproduction with respect to age, time of day, season, and other periodic environmental events. Further modulation can occur with variations in temperature, rainfall, nutrition, and health status. Interactions with other members of the species, ranging from pherohormonal stimulation of estrus to social delay of puberty and breeding to infanticide, provide further constraints upon fertility and recruitment. All of these processes ultimately act through molecular neuroendocrine mechanisms that are under genetic control and are subject to natural selection and evolutionary change. The basic neuroendocrine pathways are present in all vertebrates and share common neuroendocrine mechanisms. These pathways are subject to external intervention and interruption in individuals