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- Feb 5, 2017
Typhus is a group of bacterial infections caused by Rickettsia species.
It was also called "typhus fever," "jail fever," "ship fever," and "spotted fever." The disease was often confused with typhoid fever.
Typhus is spread by lice and was generally seen in crowded and unsanitary conditions. Symptoms include prostration, rash, fever and headache, with complications of kidney disease and pneumonia.
A relatively rare disease in the Civil War, 2,500 cases were reported among U.S. forces with 850 deaths. Treatments included diet, cold sponge baths, opiates, quinine, and tartar emetic (an antimony compound).
Image credit:
"Epidemic Typhus. Male patient with macular rash." 1914, via Wikimedia Commons.
It was also called "typhus fever," "jail fever," "ship fever," and "spotted fever." The disease was often confused with typhoid fever.
Typhus is spread by lice and was generally seen in crowded and unsanitary conditions. Symptoms include prostration, rash, fever and headache, with complications of kidney disease and pneumonia.
A relatively rare disease in the Civil War, 2,500 cases were reported among U.S. forces with 850 deaths. Treatments included diet, cold sponge baths, opiates, quinine, and tartar emetic (an antimony compound).
Image credit:
"Epidemic Typhus. Male patient with macular rash." 1914, via Wikimedia Commons.
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