What is typhus disease

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Minus Related Pages. Epidemic Typhus. Scrub Typhus. For Healthcare Providers. Avoid being in areas where you might encounter rat fleas or lice. Good sanitation and public health measures reduce the rat population. Rickettsia typhi murine typhus. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Rickettsia prowazekii epidemic or louse-borne typhus. Fournier PE, Raoult D. Rickettsial infections. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Updated by: Jatin M.

Editorial team. Typhus is a bacterial disease spread by lice or fleas. Rickettsia typhi causes endemic or murine typhus. Travelers who get typhus while traveling abroad may not experience symptoms until they are back home. This is why it is important to tell your doctor about any recent trips if you have any of the above symptoms.

If you suspect that you have typhus, your doctor will ask about your symptoms and your medical history. To help with the diagnosis, tell your doctor if you:. Delayed treatment and misdiagnosis can lead to a more severe case of typhus. Epidemics of typhus are more common in poor, unsanitary, and crowded areas.

People who are most at risk of dying are generally those who are unable to afford quick treatments. The overall mortality rate for untreated typhus depends on the type of typhus and other factors, such as age and overall health status.

The highest rates are seen in the older adults and those who are malnourished. Children usually recover from typhus. People with underlying diseases such as diabetes mellitus , alcoholism , or chronic renal disorders also have a higher risk of mortality. Mortality for epidemic typhus that goes untreated can range from 10 to 60 percent, and mortality from untreated scrub typhus can range up to 30 percent.

Read more: Nutritional deficiencies malnutrition ». Death occurs in no more than 4 percent of cases, according to an article in Clinical Infectious Diseases. During World War II, a vaccine was created to prevent epidemic typhus. However, the shrinking number of cases has stopped the manufacture of the vaccine. The easiest way to prevent typhus is by avoiding the pests that spread it.

Use tick, mite, and insect repellant. You might associate fleas with your pets, but they feast on humans too. The symptoms of Brill-Zinsser disease are similar to the original infection, but are usually milder than the initial illness. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Typhus Fevers.

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