About Typhus

Typhus is one of the great epidemic diseases in history, although it's no longer a large threat to the Western world. The disease, spread by vermin, is still a threat in areas where people do not have access to adequate sanitary facilities, such as prisons and refugee camps. However, with the advent of antibiotics, there is now a weapon to be used against this once utterly deadly disease.

History

• The first major typhus epidemics were noted during the Middle Ages, and epidemics still occur today. Epidemics tended to occur during wars, such as the English Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, and World War I, or during other upheavals, such as the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. Typhus was also a major killer in the Nazis' concentration camps. The development of antibiotics, vaccines, and pesticides helped combat typhus in the 20th century.

Identification

• Typhus is not one disease alone--the word "typhus" covers more than one disease. However, all types of typhus are caused by bacterial infection, and all types of typhus are spread by vermin coming into contact with humans, either directly or through the vector of an infected animal. Epidemic typhus, which caused so many deaths in the past, is spread by body lice, while murine typhus, which is more common in the United States although still comparatively rare, is spread by rat fleas and rat feces or through contact with infected animals. The disease "scrub typhus" is actually a type of spotted fever.

Symptoms

• The symptoms of murine typhus include dry cough, gastrointestinal upset, abdominal pain, backache, joint pain, headache, a dull red rash that spreads outward from the torso, and a very high, persistent fever (105-106 degrees F). This fever can last up to two weeks. The symptoms of the rarer epidemic typhus are somewhat similar to those of murine typhus; they include cough and chills, high fever, severe pain (headache, joint pain, and muscle pain), delirium, stupor, and a rash that spreads outward from the torso to cover the whole body.

Treatment

• Treatment for both epidemic and murine typhus involves antibiotics to kill off the bacterial infection. Epidemic typhus cases may warrant have further attention in a hospital, with patients receiving treatment such as intravenous fluids and oxygen. Epidemic and murine typhus differ markedly in their lethality; epidemic typhus will kill 10-60% of patients if left untreated, while murine typhus kills less than 2% of the affected. With antibiotic treatment, both conditions should resolve successfully.

Prevention/Solution

• Basic sanitation measures can help prevent typhus. Washing clothes in boiling water and washing yourself frequently can prevent infection through body lice, as can leaving infested clothes away from people for at least 5 days (the lice will die without your blood to feed on). To avoid murine typhus, stay away from rats and control the rat population.