Lice-borne typhus is one of the oldest pernicious diseases, which has haunted humanity for centuries. Known by many names such as "camp fever", "war fever", "prison fever" and "tabarillo" and confused with many other fevers and diseases, it was only at the end of the 15th century that it was identified as the cause of great epidemics. With the plague, typhus and dysentery, it is known that it exterminated armies and civilian populations from the 15th to the 20th century, playing a decisive role in the fate of the wars in Europe. This article will attempt to further analyze the historical impact of lice-borne typhus and how its epidemic propagation has led many to view Pediculus humanus corporis as having a more notable influence on human history than any other parasite. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Epidemic typhus fever (tabarillo, classical or European typhus, prison fever, war fever) The name "typhus" derives from the Greek word typos, which means "smoke" which recalls the delirious state from which one suffers during infection. Originally, "typhus" represented any of the self-limiting fevers accompanied by stupor. In 1829, the French clinician Louis demarcated "typhoid fever" from "typhoid fever." Epidemic typhus, isolated and identified by DaRocha-Lima in 1916, is caused by small, coccobacilli-shaped Gram-negative bacteria, Rickettsia prowazekii, originally thought to be a virus due to its tiny size and difficulty in cultivation. Being an obligate intracellular parasite, it uses components within the cell to survive and multiply. It was named in honor of H. T. Ricketts and L. von Prowazek, who died of infection during their investigations. Since the cell wall is excessively permeable to many large metabolites, the microorganism requires a living host. The host is thought to provide ATP, NAD, and CoA. (Brezina et al., 1973). Typhus occurs through louse (Pediculus humanus corporis) feces contaminated with R. prowazekii. The louse bite causes itching and scratching, which allows bacteria to enter the area of ​​the scratch or bite through the skin. Indirect transmission can occur if lice infect one person, who then develops the disease, and the infected lice move to the next individual, infecting through bites and defecation or directly, through the sharing of clothing between individuals. After an incubation period of 7-14 days, fever, headache and prostration suddenly appear. The temperature rises to 40° C on several days, with mild remission in the morning, for almost 2 weeks. The headache is intense. Small pink macules appear on the 4th to 6th day and rapidly cover the body, usually in the armpits and upper torso excluding the palms, soles, and face. Subsequently, the rash becomes dark and maculopapular. The rash can become petechial and hemorrhagic in extreme cases. Sometimes splenomegaly occurs. In human populations, propagation is regulated by the circulation of lice between individuals. The louse is a relatively inefficient vector, due to its short range of movement; crawls and cannot fly. Furthermore, the active stages survive only for 7-10 days without a suitable host to feed on, all accompanied by the fact that they are exclusively human parasites. The spread of the epidemic is therefore favored by the presence of a large population of lice on humans crowded together in their homes. Scratching and itching by severely infested individuals causes the lice to move to the outer surface of theclothing and are easily transferred to others. Thus, in crowded public housing, prisons, refugee camps or in times of war or disaster, when prisoners, refugees or soldiers are unable to change clothes or bathe regularly, lice spread rapidly among people. entire population, especially during the winter, when bathing is mandatory. made more difficult due to the cold climate. Thus, over the centuries, and in areas where overcrowding, malnutrition and lack of sanitation prevailed, typhus spread rapidly. The first record of a typhus epidemic in history dates back to 1489 during the Spanish Inquisition and Reconquista. A lice-borne typhus epidemic broke out within the Spanish army killing over 17,000 soldiers in a month, of which only 3,000 men had died in actual combat. Typhus completely destroyed the Spanish army. The 17th century, during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the first 15 years, also suffered a tremendous impact after its introduction to typhus. Along with the plague, typhus was responsible for the deaths of 10,000,000 soldiers, compared to just 350,000 men who died in combat. (1632). Napoleon Bonaparte's 1812 campaign against the Russians remains the classic example. Napoleon's Grand Army originally numbered over 600,000 discrete soldiers, marching with little resistance to conquer the Russian province. France and Russia were tense allies. In 1812, his army entered Russian-controlled Poland. Poland is where things took a turn for Napoleon. The land was filthy beyond belief. The farmers were dirty, with matted hair and infested with lice and fleas, and the wells were dirty. Being in an enemy state, resources soon began to dwindle and it became difficult to provide food and water to the soldiers. The army was too large to keep its military formation intact, and most of the army dissolved into ragtag, disorderly crowds. Many soldiers then raided the homes, livestock and fields of local farmers which were full of the parasite. Intestinal diseases typical of war, such as dysentery, began to appear, and although new hospitals had been set up, they were unable to cope with the countless sick soldiers. A few days after crossing the Nieman, many soldiers began to develop high fevers and red rashes on their faces. their bodies. Some developed a bluish cast to their faces and died. Typhus had made its appearance. Typhus had been present in Poland and Russia for many years, but its situation had worsened since the Russian army ravaged Poland as it retreated from Napoleon's forces. The lack of cleanliness, combined with the unexpectedly hot summer, provided a perfect environment for lice infestation and spread. An entire century passed after the 1812 campaign before scientists discovered that typhus is spread through lice excrement. The French soldiers were sweaty, dirty and lived in the same clothes for days; provide the right environment for a louse to feed and find a home in its clothing. Once the soldier's skin and clothes were contaminated with lice excrement, the smallest abrasion or scratch was enough for the germ to enter the soldier's body. To amplify the problem, soldiers slept in large groups in confined spaces, for safety. This proximity allowed lice to be transmitted easily. Within a month of starting the campaign, Napoleon lost 80,000 soldiers who had died of typhus or were incapacitated. Soldiers suffering from typhus, lying in the streets. On July 28, Napoleon's officers expressed withhe worried that the battle with the Russians was becoming fatal. The loss of comrades to desertion and disease was priceless. On top of this, there was the problem of finding supplies in hostile territory, however, he claimed that his men could withstand the harshest of Russian winters, which turned out to be his biggest mistake. Napoleon and his sick and tired soldiers marched UP. The Russians retreated as the French advanced, dragging Napoleon deeper into Russian territory. By August 25, Napoleon had lost 105,000 of his main army's 265,000, leaving only 160,000 soldiers. Within two weeks, typhus had reduced the army to 103,000. On September 7, French forces engaged the Russians causing heavy casualties. Napoleon then marched on Moscow with only 90,000 soldiers. He expected the Russians to surrender; however, the citizens simply left Moscow to Napoleon after burning three-quarters of it, leaving behind no food or supplies. Fifteen thousand reinforcements joined Napoleon in Moscow, but of these 10,000 died of typhus. With the Russian winter rapidly approaching, Napoleon had no choice but to retreat. During World War I, at least 20,000 Austrians were taken prisoner by the Serbs. The shortage of doctors and other health workers has led to the rapid collapse of the health of defenseless populations. Malnutrition, overcrowding and lack of hygiene paved the way for typhoid. In November 1914, typhus made its first appearance among refugees and prisoners, quickly spreading among the troops. A year after the outbreak of hostilities, typhus killed 150,000 people, including 50,000 prisoners in Serbia. During this period the mortality rate reached an epidemic peak of around 60-70%. Drastic measures were taken, such as quarantine of people with early clinical signs of the disease, along with attempts to enforce hygiene rules among troops to prevent lice infestations. In Russia, in the last two years of unrest and the Bolshevik revolution, about 2.5 million deaths were recorded. Typhus was latent in Russia long before the First World War. The death rate rose from 0.13 per 1,000 in peacetime to 2.33 per 1,000 in 1915. Typhus was imported and spread throughout the country via soldiers and refugees. During the brutal winter of 1917-18, the largest typhus epidemic in modern history broke out in a Russia already ravaged by famine and war, resulting in five million deaths in Russia and Eastern Europe. WORLD WAR II: Henrique da Rocha Lima, a Brazilian doctor, discovered the cause of the typhus epidemic in 1916 while doing research in Germany. Cox's (1938) discovery that R. prowazekii could be grown in the yolk sac of developing chicken embryos made it possible to prepare a vaccine against epidemic typhus, consisting of an inactivated suspension of R. prowazekii grown in the chick embryo. Even though a pest control station was set up and a vaccine against typhus was developed, typhus epidemics continued to claim victims, especially in the German concentration camps during the Holocaust, where typhus was a serious scourge (Anne Frank died in a field at the age of 15 of typhus). and it will never be known how many inmates died from the disease. After the liberation of Buchenwald, it was discovered that over 8,000 inmates were suffering from typhus. During the war, serious typhus epidemics occurred throughout Germany. With the statistical data available in 1945, 16,000 cases of typhus were detected in that year. Japan was also hit by the scourge of typhus during World War II, with approximately 45,000 cases. broadcast, which proved to be a great success. The.