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Lack of serological evidence for Mycoplasma fermentans infection in army Gulf War veterans: a large scale case-control study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2001

S.-C. LO ,
L. LEVIN ,
J. RIBAS ,
R. CHUNG ,
R. Y.-H. WANG ,
D. WEAR  and
J. W.-K. SHIH
S.-C. LO
Affiliation:
Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 14th Street and Alaska Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20306
L. LEVIN
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Division of Preventive Medicine, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
J. RIBAS
Affiliation:
Infectious Disease Service, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington DC
R. CHUNG
Affiliation:
Infectious Disease Service, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington DC
R. Y.-H. WANG
Affiliation:
Department of Transfusion Medicine, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
D. WEAR
Affiliation:
Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 14th Street and Alaska Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20306
J. W.-K. SHIH
Affiliation:
Department of Transfusion Medicine, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
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Abstract

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Mycoplasma fermentans is suspected in the development of ‘Gulf War illness’ in veterans of Operation Desert Storm. We conducted a matched case-control study for the prevalence of M. fermentans-specific antibodies before and after the operation, as well as seroconversion rates in veterans with and without complaints of ‘Gulf War illness’. Cases consisted of Gulf War veterans, who complained of various illnesses and were enrolled in the second phase of the health evaluation by the Army Comprehensive Clinical Examination Program (CCEP). Controls were selected from Gulf War veterans who did not participate in the registry and did not request a health evaluation by the CCEP. Before operation deployment, 34 out of 718 of the cases (4·8%) and 116 out of 2233 of the controls (5·2%) tested positive for M. fermentans-specific antibodies. There was no difference in rates of seroconversion between cases and controls (1·1 vs. 1·2%) to M. fermentans during Operation Desert Storm. Thus, there is no serological evidence that suggests infection by M. fermentans is associated with development of ‘Gulf War illness’.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 125 , Issue 3 , December 2000 , pp. 609 - 616
Copyright
2000 Cambridge University Press