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Typhus is a group of diseases that cause fever, headache, and rash. Throughout history, typhus has been responsible for millions of deaths. Types of typhus include scrub typhus, murine or endemic typhus, and epidemic typhus. Bacteria of the Rickettsia family causes typhus, and arthropods (chiggers, lice, mites, or fleas) spread the bacteria to ...
Treatment for typhus. If a doctor thinks you could have typhus, they'll usually suggest a blood test or skin biopsy. Antibiotics are used to treat a typhus infection. They're usually started before you get your test result, as this can take up to a week. Most people start to feel better within 48 hours of starting treatment.
Aug 8, 2023 · Typhus is a disease caused by bacteria (mainly Rickettsia typhi or R. prowazekii ). There are two major types of typhus: endemic (or murine typhus) and epidemic typhus— bacterial infections cause both. The bacteria are small and very difficult to cultivate. Originally, they were thought to be viruses.
It is often seen during the summer and fall. It is rarely deadly. You are more likely to get this type of typhus if you are around rat feces or fleas, and other animals such as cats, possums, raccoons, and skunks. Rickettsia prowazekii causes epidemic typhus. It is spread by lice. Brill-Zinsser disease is a mild form of epidemic typhus.
Most symptomatic rickettsial diseases cause moderate illness, but others, including RMSF (also called Brazilian spotted fever), epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and Mediterranean spotted fever, can be life-threatening in some cases, particularly when treatment is delayed. Clinical presentations vary with the causative agent and patient.
Both diseases are infections, but they're caused by different types of bacteria that are spread in different ways. The kind of typhus we tend to see in the U.S. is spread by fleas that catch the disease from rats and opossums. Typhoid fever is spread through food that's come into contact with fecal bacteria. For example, a food worker might use ...
Epidemic typhus: Epidemic typhus, also called louse-borne typhus, is disease caused by a bacteria called Rickettsia prowazekii. While previously responsible for considerable illness worldwide, it is now considered rare. Scrub typhus: Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi.
