Typhus, also known as typhus, typhoid fever, used to be a death toll, today it is a rare disease. It appears in the poor countries of Asia, Africa and South America, but sometimes also in the so-called civilized world, in environments that do not have much in common with hygiene. How is typhus manifested, is it a serious disease and what is its treatment?

Spotted typhusorspotted typhusorrash typhusis a zoonosis, i.e. a zoonotic An infectious disease, very rare today. It is caused by bacteriaRickettsia prowazekii , which are rickettsiae transmitted by lice and fleas. During World War I, the typhus epidemic claimed 3 million lives. Today, the disease is extremely rare in civilized countries, but in poor regions of Asia, South America and Africa, it still occurs at several thousand cases a year. In Europe, the last cases of disease were recorded in the 1960s. In 1971, typhoid fever was removed from the list of the so-called quarantine diseases.

There are two types of typhus:

  • European spotted typhus- transmitted by human lice, especially clothing lice (less often head lice), leading to an epidemic, the so-called epidemic
  • rat spotted typhus- transmitted by fleas and endemic (local). In this case, the rickettsiae are transmitted by fleas on rats and mice.

How do you get infected with typhus?

Rickettsiae cause porosity in lice and fleas in the digestive tract and accelerate their death. Sick insects excrete bacteria in their faeces and vomit. If a person infected with such parasites scratches himself, he begins to rub the toxins on the skin that enter the body. Fleas and lice also infect a person while sucking blood. Even on clothing, rickettsiae remain infectious for 2-3 weeks.

Worth knowing

Vaccinations against typhus

There are vaccinations that protect against contracting typhus - they are especially recommended for tourists. The vaccine against typhus was invented by a Polish biologist from Lviv,Rudolf Stefan Weigl, in the 1920s, thus saving thousands of lives. His work on this vaccine, which takes place mainly in concentration camps, is one of the most interesting in the history of medicine.

Spotted typhus: symptoms

Typhus causes damage to small arteries and capillaries, which leads to damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, adrenal glands and the heart. The doctor may feel a clearly enlarged liver and spleen. The period of incubation of the disease is approx. 1-2 weeks and after that time the following appear:

  • fever around 40 degrees Celsius, hard to beat
  • chills
  • delirium
  • headaches
  • general breakdown
  • feeling exhausted
  • appearance on day 5-6 of macular, papular rash that turns into hemorrhagic rash
  • disturbance of consciousness (excitement, hallucinations, light-headedness)
  • mental disorders
  • nausea
  • vomiting (rather in the case of rat typhus)
  • increased thirst
  • heart abnormalities
  • low blood pressure
  • cough
  • photophobia (rather in the case of epidemic typhus)
Worth knowing

A case of typhus gives future immunity to this disease, the so-called infectious immunity. In some people who have a damaged immune system for some reason, as well as in elderly people, late relapses may appear - a few, a dozen or even several dozen years after the onset of the disease. However, these relapses are not so severe, the disease is much milder, the rash is sparse and rarely hemorrhagic, intoxication also slight or absent. The diagnosis is confirmed by a blood test. The fever lasts for about 7-11 days. Mortality is 1-2%.

Spotted typhus: diagnosis and treatment

Diagnosis is made on the basis of the patient's symptoms and community history (typhus may appear, for example, among homeless people), and confirmation is obtained on the basis of serological examination. Treatment must take place in an infectious disease hospital, and consists in isolation of the patient, anti-rickettsial chemotherapy and antibiotic therapy, which after two days reduces the fever, regresses the disease and reduces the risk of complications, as well as lowers mortality.

Antibiotics used to treat typhus are mainly tetracyclines, such as doxycycline and chloramphenicol. Patients are also assisted with antipyretic drugs and painkillers that improve circulation and heart function, as well as a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, white meat and dairy products. Before and afterafter a meal, it is advisable to rinse the mouth with chlorchinaldin.

Cooling baths (approx. 35-36 degrees C) with the addition of potassium permanganate and maintaining the temperature in the patient's room around 17 degrees C are helpful. mice also in the everyday environment of patients (i.e. disinfestation, disinfection and deratisation of epidemic outbreaks). Patients who are treated promptly have a good chance of being fully healed.

In untreated people, the mortality rate is unfortunately high - it amounts to 10-60 percent, although this mainly applies to the epidemic variant. Untreated rat spotted typhus ends in the death of about 2 percent of patients. Children tolerate typhus better, here the death rate does not exceed a few percent, but in the elderly and the elderly it is 25 percent. Patients over 60 are most at risk of dying.

Spotted typhus: complications

The following complications may occur as a result of the course of typhoid fever:

  • gangrene of the limbs, caused by blood clots forming in the vessels
  • bedsores (you need to change position if you lie down without strength)
  • thrombophlebitis
  • secondary pneumonia
  • fallout pneumonia
  • pleurisy
  • nephritis
  • Q fever - symptoms and treatment
  • What can you get infected from a cat? What diseases do cats transmit?
  • Tick-borne diseases: Lyme disease, babesiosis, bartonellosis, TBE and others
About the authorMarta Uler A journalist specializing in he alth, beauty and psychology. She is also a diet therapist by education. Her interests are medicine, herbal medicine, yoga, vegetarian cuisine and cats. I am a mother of two boys - a 10-year-old and a 6-month-old.

Read more articles from this author

Category:

Infectious diseases