Posted on Feb 21, 2016
Has anyone noticed an increase in sinus infections since returning home from Afghanistan?
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I returned home from Afghanistan in August of 2015. Before deployment I would get sick about once a year, usually a sinus infection that would lead to Bronchitis. However, while on deployment I started getting Sinus Infections more frequently and now that I am home, I get them about every one to two months. Does anyone else have an issue with this? Is it something that could possibly be related to the conditions while deployed?
Posted in these groups: 
Afghanistan
Deployment
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) - Afghanistan
Health
Afghanistan Deployment Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) - Afghanistan Health
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 29
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I have suffered with allergies more since my deployments. I encourage you to register for the VA' s burn pit registry. You can get a free VA exam once you do that. I think respiratory issues will be a big problem as we OIF and OEF veterans get older.
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COL Rich McKinney
I second this recommendation. Register at http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/burnpits/registry.asp
- Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn Djibouti, Africa on or after September 11, 2001
- Operations Desert Shield or Desert Storm
- Southwest Asia theater of operations on or after August 2, 1990
I was OIF-1 in 2003-2004. I picked up a cough that has still not gone away. I was evaluated by the VA and told it was not related to my time in Iraq, but was "hereditary". Congress forced the VA to create the Burn Pit registry because too many like me were getting "blown off" by the VA.
- Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn Djibouti, Africa on or after September 11, 2001
- Operations Desert Shield or Desert Storm
- Southwest Asia theater of operations on or after August 2, 1990
I was OIF-1 in 2003-2004. I picked up a cough that has still not gone away. I was evaluated by the VA and told it was not related to my time in Iraq, but was "hereditary". Congress forced the VA to create the Burn Pit registry because too many like me were getting "blown off" by the VA.
VA’s Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry - Public Health
About VA's Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry and recent findings.
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COL Richard Graham
Agreed. I registered on that site finally in the last year, although my initial exposure was in 2005-6.
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The first thing to do is make sure the diagnosis is correct.....many people diagnosed with a sinus infection do not have actual bacterial sinus infections....you may very well be suffering from allergic rhinitis that is complicated with viral upper respiratory infections....,if any doubt get another opinion or and ENT eval to determine the correct diagnosis....,,this is one of the most common diagnostic mistakes I see in general practice...mis-diagnosing a sinus infection
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