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Tag: pandemic

U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Ernesto Santa Ana, with the Naval Medical Research Center, collects blood samples from a Marine participant with the COVID-19 Health Action Response for Marines (CHARM) study on Camp Johnson, N.C., Mar. 3, 2021. - U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Ernesto Santa Ana, with the Naval Medical Research Center, collects blood samples from a Marine participant with the COVID-19 Health Action Response for Marines (CHARM) study on Camp Johnson, N.C., Mar. 3, 2021.

Naval Medical Research Center continues research in fight against COVID-19

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – Naval Medical Research Center is continuing their ongoing study to determine the long-term effects of the COVID-19 disease to support Marines in the COVID-19 Health Action Response for Marines CHARM 2.0 at Camp Johnson, North Carolina. CHARM 2.0 is a continuation of an initial study that NMRC began at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in May 2020. The study is a volunteer progression-based assessment to monitor possible health related issues as a result of COVID-19 recovery, and the team has resumed evaluating the initial volunteers from across multiple Camp Lejeune tenant commands. U.S. Navy Cmdr. Andrew Letizia, the principle investigator for the CHARM study said the research provides a critical approach to understanding the long term effects of the disease. “This study helps understand the long term effects of COVID-19 amongst Marines,” he said. “It will also assist in understanding how a Marine’s immune system would be able to fight off new and emerging variants of the various SARS-CoV-2 strains, the virus that causes COVID-19, that are coming from around the world.” Letizia said the CHARM studies began in 2020, with revisits this year to assess the original group of recruits, now Marines. With the most recent update to the testing, the team is tasked with scouring across the country to continue research on Marines from the original study. “The study was conducted from May to Nov. 2020, and it followed Marine recruits entering boot camp,” he said. “We wanted to better understand all the Marines that had COVID-19 after infection, regardless of symptoms. Then we evaluated them for six weeks to see how their immune system has made progression.” The research team is currently reassessing the Marine volunteers, across military installations as part of the CHARM 2.0 study. This week the team reached out to leaders on Camp Lejeune to allow time for any original study participants to continue with their follow-ups. “All participants from the first study were eligible to continue the research,” said Letizia. “We’re hoping following up with these Marines will allow us to better understand the long term effects of COVID-19 on an individual’s health, in particular their heart, lungs, their mental health as well as their immune system.” One of the original participants, U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Jada May, a supply chain and material management specialist student at Ground Supply School, volunteered for the follow-up study. “I volunteered because as a twin I wanted to see if COVID would affect me differently as well as others,” she said. “I started in the program last August as a recruit and during the assessment learned that other Marines had an immunity built up which greatly helped with the study.” May said that she’s hopeful the research will benefit the effort to understand and fight COVID-19. Researchers are hoping the clinical results over time will benefit the understanding of healthy individuals during the pandemic. “This was a unique opportunity not just for the Marine Corps, but also for the whole Department of Defense to better understand the effects on our active duty population,” said Letizia. The CHARM projects have only improved the understanding of how Naval Medicine can impact COVID-19 relief efforts as well as support the health and readiness of the Marine Corps as an organization. “CHARM 1.0 as well as 2.0 show the power of Navy Medicine to deploy and support the Marine Corps especially during this pandemic,” said Letizia. “We really need to understand our foe as well as the ability of the individual Marine to fight off that infection, and we at the Navy Medical Research Center are proud to help with that.”

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A U.S. Marine gets her arm disinfected to receive her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, on Camp Foster, Mar. 2. - A U.S. Marine gets her arm disinfected to receive her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, on Camp Foster, Mar. 2.

I got the COVID-19 vaccine because...

As thousands of service members on Okinawa are receiving the COVID-19 vaccination, they are given a sticker stating ‘I got my COVID-19 vaccine because…’ This personal memento signifies their unique reason to receive the vaccine. Many service members with families on Okinawa are receiving the vaccine to keep their families safe. “I feel it is my duty to get the vaccine to stop the spread of COVID-19,” explains Staff Sgt. Felicia White, a mother of one who just received the final COVID-19 booster...

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U.S. Marine Corps and Navy medical personnel and first responders complete an initial screening to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa on Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 29, 2020. The Department of Defense’s (DOD) COVID-19 vaccination plan is phase driven and designed to protect members within the DOD fromCOVID-19 as quickly and safely as possible in order to bolster mission readiness and enhance capabilities of DOD members worldwide. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alex Fairchild) - U.S. Marine Corps and Navy medical personnel and first responders complete an initial screening to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa on Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 29, 2020. The Department of Defense’s (DOD) COVID-19 vaccination plan is phase driven and designed to protect members within the DOD fromCOVID-19 as quickly and safely as possible in order to bolster mission readiness and enhance capabilities of DOD members worldwide. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alex Fairchild)