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Epidemic typhus has also been called camp fever, jail fever, and war fever, names that suggest overcrowding, underwashing, and lowered standards of living. It is caused by the bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii and is conveyed from person to person by the body louse, Pediculus humanus humanus.
Nov 13, 2020 · Typhus fevers are a group of diseases caused by bacteria that are spread to humans by fleas, lice, and chiggers. Typhus fevers include scrub typhus, murine typhus, and epidemic typhus. Chiggers spread scrub typhus, fleas spread murine typhus, and body lice spread epidemic typhus.
Epidemic typhus is a rickettsial disease that is caused by Rickettsia prowazekii and spread by body lice and occasionally through contact with flying squirrels. People with epidemic typhus have a fever, an intense headache, and extreme exhaustion, followed by a rash 4 to 6 days later.
Oct 23, 2023 · Epidemic typhus is a potentially lethal, louse-borne, exanthematous disease caused by Rickettsia prowazekii. R. prowazekii is one of two members of the typhus group of Rickettsia known to cause human illness; the other member, Rickettsia typhi, causes murine typhus. Scrub typhus is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi.
Epidemic typhus (also called louse-borne typhus) is caused by Rickettsia prowazekii bacteria and is transmitted through the feces of body lice ( Pediculus humanus corporis) that live in clothes. Before the advent of antibiotics, mortality rates from epidemic typhus reached 60%, especially in persons who were elderly and malnourished.
Diagnosis. Treatment. Prevention. Key Points. Brill-Zinsser Disease. Epidemic typhus is caused by Rickettsia prowazekii. Symptoms are prolonged high fever, intractable headache, and a maculopapular rash. (See also Overview of Rickettsial and Related Infections .) Epidemic typhus is a rickettsial disease.
Major typhus epidemics took place late in World War I and in the years of civil war following the Bolshevik Revolution. Typhus claimed some 2 to 3 million lives from 1918 to 1922.” Reaching at-risk populations in crowded cities and remote communities with information about diseases, including typhus, was challenging.
