Typhus classification

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] ; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aditya Ganti M.B.B.S. [2]

Overview[edit | edit source]

Typhus fevers are a group of diseases caused by bacteria that are spread to humans by fleas, lice, and chiggers. Typhus fevers include scrub typhus, murine typhus, and epidemic typhus. Chiggers spread scrub typhus, fleas spread murine typhus, and body lice spread epidemic typhus. The most common symptoms are fever, headaches, and rash.

Classification[edit | edit source]

Epidemic typhus[edit | edit source]

• Epidemic typhus is so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters.^[1]
• The causative organism is Rickettsia prowazekii, transmitted by the human body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus).^[2]
• Feeding on a human who carries the bacillus infects the louse. R. prowazekii grows in the louse's gut and is excreted in its feces.
• The disease is then transmitted to an uninfected human who scratches the louse bite (which itches) and rubs the feces into the wound.
• The abysmally low standards of hygiene enforced in camps such as Theresienstadt and Bergen-Belsen created conditions where diseases such as typhus flourished.
• A possible modern scenario for typhus epidemics would be in refugee camps during a major famine or natural disaster. This form of typhus is also known as "prison fever" or "ship fever" because it becomes prevalent in crowded conditions in prisons and aboard ships.

Endemic typhus[edit | edit source]

• Endemic typhus (also called "flea-borne typhus" and "murine typhus" or "rat flea typhus") is caused by the bacteria Rickettsia typhi, and is transmitted by the fleas that infest rats. ^[3]
• Less often, endemic typhus is caused by Rickettsia felis and transmitted by fleas carried by cats or possums. Symptoms of endemic typhus include headache, fever, chills, myalgia, nausea, vomiting, and cough.
• Endemic typhus is highly treatable with antibiotics.^[3] Most people recover fully, but death may occur in the elderly, severely disabled or patients with a depressed immune system.

Scrub typhus[edit | edit source]

• Scrub typhus (also called "chigger-borne typhus") is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi and transmitted by chiggers, which are found in areas of heavy scrub vegetation.
• Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, cough, and gastrointestinal symptoms. More virulent strains of O. tsutsugamushi can cause hemorrhaging and intravascular coagulation.

References[edit | edit source]

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