Epidemiological characteristics of typhus in China, 1950-2021 / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of typhus in China from 1950 to 2021, and discuss the challenges in typhus prevention and control in China and suggest future prevention and control strategies. Methods: Based on the reported data of typhus from 1950 to 2021 in China from the Infectious Disease History Database of China Public Health Science Data Center and the National Notifiable Infectious Disease Reporting Information System of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, we conducted a descriptive statistical analysis. Mann-Kendall test and circular distribution method were used to analyze the incidence, mortality and case fatality of typhus to reveal the temporal, spatial and population distributions and diagnosis of typhus in China. Results: From 1950 to 2021, a total of 452 965 typhus cases and 7 339 typhus deaths were reported in China, with the cases numbers exceeding 10 000 in 14 years of the 1950s, 1960s and 1980s, respectively. Since 1990s, the reported cases and incidence rate of typhus have decreased dramatically and the most cases were sporadic. However, the reported typhus cases in Anhui, Hubei, Hunan Provinces showed significant uptrends. Although typhus could occur all the year round, but the seasonality was observed with the incidence mainly in summer and autumn. For different provinces from the north to the south, the peaks of typhus' monthly incidence tended to shift to earlier dates. The male to female ratio of the cases was 1.01∶1 (18 529∶18 366). However, more cases occurred in women in recent years. The cases aged ≤9 years accounted for the highest proportion (18.9%), but the number of cases aged ≥50 years showed an upward trend. Most cases were farmers with the proportion increasing year by year. Moreover, the cases in students and scattered-living children also accounted for relatively higher proportions. The median of the interval between onset and diagnosis of typhus was 6 days. Most cases were clinically diagnosed, while the proportion of laboratory-confirmed cases was low and most laboratory cases were confirmed by Well-Felix reaction. Conclusions: Although the incidence and mortality of typhus in China has decreased significantly, the risk for local typhus outbreaks still exists. The prevention and control of typhus still face many challenges. It is indispensable to strengthen the pathogen detection and surveillance for typhus in China.

Salud pública, espacio urbano y exclusión social en la España de posguerra: la epidemia de tifus exantemático en la ciudad de Valencia, 1941-1943 / Public health, urban space and social exclusion in postwar Spain: the exanthematic typhus epidemic in the city of Valencia, 1941-1943

Resumen Tras la Guerra Civil, las deficientes condiciones higiénico-dietéticas de gran parte de la población española favorecieron la aparición de enfermedades epidémicas. El tifus exantemático puso en jaque a las autoridades sanitarias, especialmente durante la primavera de 1941, cuando el ciclo epidemiológico de la enfermedad y la falta de infraestructuras se aliaron para provocar una grave crisis sanitaria. El régimen franquista, consciente de que esta situación dificultaba su legitimación, no dudó en utilizar la exclusión social como parte de su política sanitaria contra esta epidemia. El artículo analiza en profundidad el caso de Valencia, una ciudad que durante la guerra, por hallarse en la retaguardia republicana, había acogido sucesivas oleadas de refugiados a medida que avanzaban las tropas franquistas.

Abstract After the Spanish Civil War, poor hygiene and nutritional deficiencies among a large part of Spain's population contributed to the rise of epidemic diseases. Exanthematic typhus posed a challenge to the health authorities, especially during the spring of 1941, when the epidemiological cycle of the disease and the lack of infrastructures combined to create a serious health crisis. The Franco regime, aware that this situation posed a threat to its legitimacy, promptly used social exclusion as part of its health policy against the epidemic. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the case of Valencia, a city that was behind Republican lines during the war, and therefore received successive waves of refugees as Franco's troops advanced.

As epidemias nas notícias em Portugal: cólera, peste, tifo, gripe e varíola, 1854-1918 / Epidemics in the news in Portugal: cholera, plague, typhus, influenza and smallpox, 1854-1918

Em períodos de crise sanitária grave como os de 1854-1856, 1899 e 1918, especialmente no Porto, onde cólera-morbo, peste bubónica, tifo exantemático, gripe pneumónica e varíola mataram percentagens elevadas da população, as imagens das epidemias na imprensa permitem-nos identificar os conhecimentos científicos num país considerado periférico, mas que dispunha de estudos e pessoal especializado no nível dos mais avançados da época. Uma base de dados de 6.700 notícias, artigos e anúncios revela-nos o conhecimento médico e farmacêutico da segunda metade do século XIX e início do XX, o modo como era transmitido e divulgado ao público e as soluções apresentadas pelas autoridades sanitárias. Um fator foi sempre salientado nas notícias e anúncios: a higiene.

In severe health crisis like those of 1854-1856, 1899 and 1918, especially in Porto, where cholera morbus, the bubonic plague, typhus fever, pneumonic influenza and smallpox killed high percentages of the population, the images of the epidemics in the press enable us to identify the scientific knowledge in a country considered peripheral, but which had studies and personnel specialized at the most advanced levels for the time. A database of 6,700 news items and announcements reveals the medical and pharmaceutical knowledge of the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the way it was transmitted and disclosed to the public and the solutions offered by the health authorities. Hygiene was consistently highlighted in the news and announcements.

Fiebre tifoidea en Cartagena / Typhoid fever in Cartagena

Se revisaron 92 historias con diagnostico de fiebre tifoidea comprobada bacteriologicamente que se presentaron en el Hospital Universitario de Cartagena en el periodo comprendido entre enero de 1976 y diciembre de 1987. Se describen los hallazgos epidemiologicos, sintomas, signos, examenes de laboratorio y tratamiento. Se comparan estos resultados ( de una forma endemica de la enfermedad) con otros tres estudios colombianos, encontrando diferencias entre las formas epidemicas y endemicas. Se dicuten nuevos metodos diagnosticos (serologicos) y modalidades terapeuticas prometedoras

Estudio de una epidemia de tifus exantemático en dos comunidades rurales de Urcos-Cusco / Typhus fever occurence in 2 rural communities in Urcos-Cusco

Se estudió una epidemia de tifus exantemático en dos comunidades rurales de Urcos, Cusco. Se encontraron un total de 25 casos. La población total de las comunidades era de 406 habitantes en 1981. La epidemia se desarrolló en los meses de setiembre de 1981. La comunidades se encuentran a 3,300 m.s.n.m. y su temperatura promedio anual es de 12.5-C. Los pobladores agricultores y viven en estado de hacinamiento. Quince casos fueron mayores de 20 años y el mayor grupo etario afectado fue entre 20 y 29 años, con 8 casos. Según el sexo, 17 fueros mujeres y 8 fueron varones. Fallecieron 3 pacientes mujeres entre 26 y 35 años. Una de ellas se complicó con bronconeumonía. En fase aguda se detectaron 14 casos. El cuadro clínico fue: malestar general-postración (100%), exantema (71.4%), cefalea (100%), dolores osteomusculares (100%), fiebre (64.2%), dolor abdominal (57.1%), tos (35.7%), esplenomegalia (28.5%), alteración de conciencia (14.2%), hepatomegalia (7.1%). Se encontraron piojos en el 100% de pacientes. Se hizo serología de Weil-Felix a 5 pacientes en fase aguda con positividad 1/320 en uno de ellos. En la fase de convalecencia se hizo Weil-Felix a 16 pacientes obteniendo positividad en 15 de ellos. No hubo títulos menores de 1/320