Military branches restore flu shot requirement after virus swept through base

在病毒席卷基地后，美军各军种恢复流感疫苗接种要求

The Army, Navy, and Air Force are once again requiring basic trainees to get vaccinated against influenza after the virus quickly swept through an Air Force base in Texas, sickening at least 222 recruits and hospitalizing four. The outbreak flared just two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth abandoned a decades-long requirement for flu shots. 在流感病毒迅速席卷得克萨斯州的一个空军基地，导致至少 222 名新兵患病、4 人住院治疗后，陆军、海军和空军再次要求基础训练学员接种流感疫苗。此次疫情爆发距离国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯（Pete Hegseth）废除实施了数十年的流感疫苗强制接种规定仅过去两个月。

The requirement was intended to keep armed forces healthy in their bases, which provide ideally tight conditions for a variety of pathogens, including influenza, to run rampant. Mandates stem from centuries of intertwining histories of militaries, war, and human pathogens that have firmly established the danger that infectious diseases pose to armed forces. But in April, Hegseth claimed that flu shot requirements were “not rational” and said removing the requirement was “restoring freedom” to military members. 这项规定旨在保障军队在基地内的健康，因为基地内拥挤的环境为包括流感在内的各种病原体提供了肆虐的理想条件。强制接种令源于几个世纪以来军队、战争与人类病原体之间交织的历史，这些历史确凿地证明了传染病对武装部队构成的威胁。然而，赫格塞斯在四月份声称，流感疫苗接种要求“不合理”，并表示取消该要求是“恢复”军人的自由。

Last week, news broke of a flu outbreak sweeping through Lackland Air Force Base, part of Joint Base San Antonio in Texas. Two unnamed sources told ABC News that the situation at the base has been worsening. In addition to the 222 cases and four hospitalizations reported as of Tuesday, one recruit, Keon McDaniel, died. McDaniel was in his sixth week of basic training and suffered a medical emergency on June 12. It’s unclear if his death was related to the outbreak. ABC News reported that sources think only about 40 percent of the new Air Force trainees at the base were vaccinated and that the outbreak began in early June. 上周，有消息称流感疫情正在席卷得克萨斯州圣安东尼奥联合基地的拉克兰空军基地。两名匿名消息人士告诉美国广播公司（ABC）新闻，基地的情况正在恶化。除了截至周二报告的 222 例病例和 4 例住院治疗外，一名叫基翁·麦克丹尼尔（Keon McDaniel）的新兵不幸去世。麦克丹尼尔当时正处于基础训练的第六周，于 6 月 12 日突发医疗紧急状况。目前尚不清楚他的死亡是否与此次疫情有关。据 ABC 新闻报道，消息人士认为该基地只有约 40% 的空军新兵接种了疫苗，且疫情始于 6 月初。

Historical requirements

历史上的强制要求

It remains unclear what strain of flu is circulating in the base. Circulation of seasonal influenza viruses tends to be low during the summer amid the general population. But activity does not fall to zero, and the close quarters and extensive contact within a base make it easy for transmission to skyrocket. 目前尚不清楚在基地内传播的是哪种流感毒株。在夏季，普通人群中季节性流感病毒的传播往往处于低位。但活跃度并不会降至零，而基地内狭窄的居住空间和频繁的接触使得病毒传播极易激增。

In a statement to Ars Technica, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that the Pentagon had granted exceptions to Hegseth’s optional flu shot policy to the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Security Agency, and the Defense Health Agency. The exceptions came after a “comprehensive review” and are in line with a standard policy of “adapting force health protection measures to critical operational realities.” 五角大楼发言人肖恩·帕内尔（Sean Parnell）在给《Ars Technica》的一份声明中表示，五角大楼已批准陆军、海军、空军、国家安全局和国防卫生局豁免执行赫格塞斯的流感疫苗自愿接种政策。这些豁免是在经过“全面审查”后做出的，符合“根据关键作战现实调整部队健康保护措施”的标准政策。

“The decisions were based upon thorough risk assessments and are designed to maximize operational readiness, lethality, and force generation, while safeguarding at-risk populations,” Parnell said. With the exception, the Air Force is aiming to vaccinate all recruits at the Texas base, according to ABC News, and the Army is preparing to expand the restored vaccine requirement to other groups, including troops deploying overseas. 帕内尔说：“这些决定基于彻底的风险评估，旨在最大限度地提高作战准备、杀伤力和兵力生成，同时保护高危人群。”据 ABC 新闻报道，在获得豁免后，空军计划为该得州基地的所有新兵接种疫苗，陆军也正准备将恢复的疫苗接种要求扩大到其他群体，包括即将部署到海外的部队。

US armed forces have a long history with pathogens, beginning in 1777 when George Washington mandated Continental soldiers be inoculated against smallpox, which had ravaged the army during the Revolutionary War. In March of 1918, cases of severe flu broke out at a military base in Kansas. The subsequent 1918 flu pandemic is estimated to have killed around 43,000 US soldiers, nearly half of all US military deaths during World War I. The US Army supported the development of the first flu vaccine, which was tested for safety and efficacy in military members. The US military issued its first flu shot mandate in 1945, when the vaccine was licensed. 美国武装部队与病原体的斗争历史悠久，始于 1777 年乔治·华盛顿下令大陆军士兵接种天花疫苗，当时天花在独立战争期间严重摧残了军队。1918 年 3 月，堪萨斯州的一个军事基地爆发了严重的流感。随后的 1918 年流感大流行估计造成约 4.3 万名美国士兵死亡，几乎占美国在一战期间所有军事死亡人数的一半。美国陆军支持了第一种流感疫苗的开发，并在军人身上测试了其安全性和有效性。1945 年，当流感疫苗获得许可时，美军发布了首个流感疫苗强制接种令。