Naval Medical Research Unit Four (NAMRU-4) was a research laboratory of the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
which was commissioned 31 May 1946 at the Naval Hospital in
Dublin, Georgia
Dublin is a city and county seat of Laurens County, Georgia, United States. The population was 16,074 at the 2020 census.
History
The City of Dublin, Georgia was incorporated by the Georgia General Assembly on December 9, 1812, and made the c ...
as the Mcintire
Research Unit for Rheumatic Fever, which was named for the
Surgeon General of the United States Navy
The surgeon general of the Navy (SGN) is the most senior commissioned officer of the Medical Corps of the United States Navy and is the principal advisor to the United States secretary of the navy, chief of naval operations and director of the ...
Ross T. Mcintire. Initial staffing was 4 physicians, 4 laboratory technicians and 4 laboratory helpers under the command of LCDR John R. Seal. Eighteen months after commissioning the Navy transferred Dublin Naval Hospital to the Veterans Affairs system and the Secretary of the Navy re-established NAMRU-4 at
Great Lakes Naval Base
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on the grounds of the Naval Hospital to study acute respiratory diseases in military personnel with a focus on their prevention. Lieutenant Commander Seal remained the Officer in Charge. The location at Great Lakes made it ideal as this was a large recruit training command with members arriving from all over the United States and being housed in military barracks and therefore would be expected to experience outbreaks of respiratory illness periodically. Diseases studied included:
*Neisseria meningitidis
*Adenoviruses
*Influenza
*Mycoplasma
*Streptococcus and rheumatic fever
In 1954 NAMRU-4 would be the first microbiology lab to ever isolate influenza virus in tissue culture. In the same year they would be the first lab to ever identify influenza B virus.
NAMRU-4 was disestablished in 1974.
Officers in Charge
*Lieutenant Commander J.R. Seal MC, USN 1946-48 (McIntire Research Unit)
*Commander J.R. Seal MC, USN 1948-54 (NAMRU-4)
*Captain K.H. Sessions MC, USN 1954-5
*Captain M.J. Hantover MC, USN 1955-7
*Commander B.F. Gundlefinger MC, USN 1957-8
*Captain L.F. Miller MC, USN 1958-1964
*Commander C.H. Miller MC, USN 1964-1964
*Captain R O Peckinpaugh MC, USN 1964-1968
Commanding officers
*Captain R O Peckinpaugh MC, USN 1968-1972
*Captain C.H. Miller MC, USN 1972-1974
References Navy Research timelineNaval Medical Research Unit No 4. History and accomplishments: an introduction to NAMRU-4. Great Lakes, IL: Naval Medical Research Unit No. 4; 1972.Epidemiology and Prevention of Acute Respiratory Disease in Naval Recruits
jph.aphapublications.org/cgi/reprint/55/1/67.pdf AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDY OF RESPIRATORY ILLNESS PATTERNS
IN NAVY AND MARINE CORPS RECRUITSbr>FIELD TRIAL OF THE EFFICACY OF A PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED REGIMEN USING MINOCYCLINE AND RIFAMPIN SEQUENTIALLY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF MENINGOCOCCI FROM HEALTHY CARRIERSProtection of a Military Population From Rheumatic Fever
External links
Navy Medical Research timeline
{{Use dmy dates, date=October 2017
Military medical research of the United States Navy
Medical and health organizations based in Georgia (U.S. state)