La Valentine disease: An outbreak of exanthematic typhus in Marseille, France, in 1810.

BACKGROUND: Exanthematic typhus was highly frequent in the early 19th century among military troops and prisoners and at hospitals. METHODS: Based on old reports, we describe an outbreak in a village, in Southern France, in 1810. RESULTS: Twenty-eight cases were identified, over a period of 10 days following the death of the index case, in a soldier. Symptoms included notably persistent constant fever, myalgia and headaches, gastro-intestinal symptoms, prostration and stupor. Three patients suffered delirium and nine died (31.0%). Overall, symptoms persisted for 13-14 days. A total of 16 cases were secondary to contacts with the index case, and 10 cases were in house-hold contacts of secondary cases. Five familial clusters were described. CONCLUSION: This data suggest that exanthematic typhus outbreaks among civilian populations also occurred outside the context of hospitals, in link with introduction of the disease by prisoners or soldiers.

The history of louse-borne typhus and geomedizine.

The experience of World War I made popular the concept of medical geography (geomedicine in English, geomedizine in German), which became part of Nazism's philosophy of national welfare, safety, and solidarity. The Nazis used it to create propaganda to show some groups as rats, vermin, and Untermenschen (subhumans). In this way, more than 10 million people were killed under the Nazi regime: 6 million Jews, plus more than 5 million Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other individuals who were not part of the German theory of "master race." The Germans' fear of typhus that spread in the Wehrmacht was so immense that during the occupation, Polish doctors used this phobia to organize a resistance movement. Contemporarily, the scope of geographic medicine encompasses the following research areas: spatial differentiation of disease incidents and the process of disease diffusion, geographic inequalities in the population's health level, and morbidity determinants among the inhabitants of developing countries. In the first half of the 19th century, it played an essential role in the activities aimed against epidemics of infectious diseases, including louse-borne typhus (epidemic typhus), cholera, and typhoid, linking these diseases to cultural determinants. Under the influence of this idea, the concept of doctor-hygienist emerged, and social medicine began to evolve.

The contributions of James Carmichael Smyth, Archibald Menzies and Robert Jackson to the treatment of typhus in royal naval vessels in the late 18th century.

In late 18th century Britain, typhus fever plagued the mass mobilisation of soldiers and posed a significant challenge to physicians of the time. Epidemic typhus was spread through highly infectious faeces of infected lice and carried a high mortality in patients and healthcare staff alike. Physicians James Carmichael Smyth (1741-1821) and Archibald Menzies (1754-1842) theorized that typhus fever was caused by infection of human exhalation. They trialled the use of vapourised nitrous acid to fumigate patients, their clothes and their bedspace, with apparent success. Despite this, typhus fever continued to ravage deployments of soldiers into the early 19th century, stimulating the continuing evolution of the understanding of typhus and its treatment.

La respuesta a las epidemias en los siglos XIX y XX: un estudio comparado entre Portugal y Chile / [The response to epidemics in the 19th and 20th centuries: a comparative study between Portugal and Chile]

En tiempos de crisis sanitarias como las que ocurrieron en Portugal en 1854-56, 1899 y 1918, especialmente en Oporto, donde el cólera morbus, la peste bubónica, el tifo exantemático, la gripe neumónica y la viruela mataron a un alto porcentaje de la población, las imágenes de las epidemias en los periódicos y en la literatura científica de la época nos permiten conocer el estado de la ciencia y las respuestas de las autoridades para controlar su difusión. La comparación de estas epidemias en Portugal con las de Chile —cólera 1886-88, peste en Valparaíso y Iquique en 1903 y gripe en 1918— en la bibliografía y en algunos periódicos de época nos muestran las semejanzas del conocimiento científico y de las medidas sanitarias aplicadas. Esto nos confirma la circulación del conocimiento médico y farmacéutico y el alto nivel de especialización de los médicos y científicos. (AU)

Renewed Risk for Epidemic Typhus Related to War and Massive Population Displacement, Ukraine.

Epidemic typhus, caused by Rickettsia prowazekii bacteria and transmitted through body lice (Pediculus humanus corporis), was a major public health threat in Eastern Europe as a consequence of World War II. In 2022, war and the resulting population displacement in Ukraine risks the return of this serious disease.

[A biography of infectious diseases: Hans Zinsser and his Rats, Lice and History].

Hans Zinsser, a well-known bacteriologist and immunologist in the United States in the early 20th century, made great advancement in the research of pathogen of typhus and its vaccine, with the epidemic typhus renamed after him. His masterpiece, Rats, Lice and History, teased out the co-evolutionary process of infectious diseases and their related organisms, focusing on specific cases and the development history of typhus. In this sense, he revealed the tremendous impact of infectious diseases on human history. He examined microorganisms and humans equally rather than simply from a human point of view. He analysed the pathological features of infectious diseases and provided professional insights into historical events of infectious diseases, such as the origin of syphilis and the plague of Athens, based on sufficient citations and references. He also advocated interpreting the history of infectious diseases with a holistic insight of history. His book, Rats, Lice and History, has been reprinted many times after its first publication, driving the following scholars to put the history of infectious diseases into a grand background of human development, enhancing the comprehension of ecology and politics and promoting the development of research in the history of diseases including life sciences, history and other disciplines.

Typhus works of Rudolf Weigl, PhD, Ludwik Fleck, MD, and Eugeniusz Lazowski, MD, against the Nazis.

Typhus has been present in Central Europe and Russia since the 19th century, but it was not until 1918 that it became an epidemic problem in Poland. Poverty, general devastation, unsanitary living conditions, and the extensive spread of the disease forced the Polish government to organize effective measures to improve the population's health. One such measure was the establishment of a typhus research center in Lviv. The center was led by Rudolf Weigl, who in the 1930s succeeded in elaborating a clinically effective vaccine. In September 1939, when the Germans invaded Poland, the problem of typhus returned, primarily due to the ghettos where the Nazis confined Jews in poor, crowded, and unsanitary conditions. Later, in 1941 when Nazis tried to invade the Soviet Union (where typhus was endemic), the typhus vaccine-the work of Weigl and Ludwik Fleck (also an employee of the Lviv institute)-was in high demand. The Germans feared typhus due to its persistence and speed of spread. The Nazi typhus phobia was also used by some Polish doctors who took advantage of this disease to protect their patients from being deported or located in camps. An example of such a doctor was Eugeniusz Lazowski, who even organized a "false pandemic" to save the local population.

Typhus Disease in Iran during the Qajar Period (1725 to 1925 AD); a Brief Historical Review.

Typhus is an acute febrile disease caused by a series of bacteria called Rickettsia that is transmitted by insects such as lice, fleas, and ticks. This disease has appeared several times in Iran and caused many casualties. There were some therapeutic measures taken by European physicians in Tehran and medical graduates of the Dar al-Fonun school or expatriates who had studied medical courses in Western countries, even though the taken steps were not enough. Due to the lack of sanitation and cleaning products after the outbreak of World War I in March 1917 and its synchronization with the swift outbreak of Typhus in 1918, heavy casualties followed. In this study, we first examine the prevalence of Typhus in the Qajar dynasty in Iran, and will then focus on the pathological importance of this disease history in Iran. After that, we will study the role of Typhus prevalence and World War I in the Persian famine, malnutrition, and food poverty. Moreover, we investigated the role that this great war had in strengthening the spread of this disease and its role in the death of many Iranian people.

Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions and Military Hygiene at the United States Military Academy between 1890 and 1910.

INTRODUCTION: Military installations are at increased risk for the transmission of infectious disease. Personnel who live and train on military installations live and train near one another facilitating disease transmission. An understanding of historical sanitation and hygiene can inform modern practices. This is especially pertinent considering the continuing rise of variants of infectious diseases, such as the recent pandemic of the 2019 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. In this article, we review the rise and decline of infectious disease at the United States Military Academy (USMA) during the period spanning 1890 through 1910, and the public health interventions used to combat disease spread. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Primary data regarding cadet illness were acquired from the historical archives of the USMA. These included annual reports, clinical admission records, casualty ledgers, and sanitation reports. Unpublished documents from the medical history of USMA provide periodic trends of health among cadets because of infectious disease. RESULTS: Between 1890 and 1910, the USMA at West Point was confronted with cases of influenza, measles, mumps, scarlet fever, smallpox, typhus, and malaria. In response, a series of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were instituted to curb the spread of infectious disease. These interventions most likely proved effective in suppressing the transmission of communicable diseases. The most common and arguably the most effective NPI was the physical separation of the sick from the well. CONCLUSIONS: The USMA experience mirrored what was occurring in the larger U.S. Army in the early 20th century and may serve as a model for the application of NPIs in response to modern infectious diseases resulting from novel or unknown etiologies.

Pandemias, milicia e historia de la Ciencia / Pandemics, the military and the history of Science

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John Donne, Spanish Doctors and the epidemic typhus: fleas or lice? / John Donne, médicos españoles y el tifus epidémico: ¿pulgas o piojos?

We describe the infections that appeared in the life and work of John Donne (1572-1631), the English metaphysical poet, mainly the exanthematic typhus that suffered and gave arise to his work Devotions upon emergent occasions, and several steps in my sickness. We discuss the vector of transmission of this disease, in comparison of other infections in that period, that Donne's scholars have related to the flea without mentioning the body louse, the true vector of the exanthematic typhus. Likewise, we mention the exanthematic typhus's symptoms in his Devotions in comparison with the Luis de Toro's or Alfonso López de Corella's works, Spanish doctors in those times and the first doctors in write books about the disease, and the singular treatment of pigeon carcasses on the soles of the feet in English Doctors but not in Spanish Doctors

Se describen las infecciones que aparecieron en la vida y la obra de John Donne (1572-1631), el poeta metafísico inglés, principalmente el tifus epidémico que padeció y que dio lugar a su obra "Devotions upon emergent ocassions, and several steps in my sickness". Discutimos el vector transmisor de la enfermedad, en comparación de otras infecciones en ese periodo, que los estudiosos de Donne han relacionado a las pulgas y sin mencionar el piojo del cuerpo que es el verdadero vector del tifus epidémico. Además, mencionamos los síntomas de la enfermedad en su obra "Devotions" en comparación con los trabajos de Luis de Toro o Alfonso López Corella, médicos españoles de su tiempo y los primeros en escribir los tratados sobre la enfermedad, y el tratamiento singular de las carcasas de palomas en las palmas y plantas de los pies en los médicos ingleses pero no presente en los médicos españoles

John Donne, Spanish Doctors and the epidemic typhus: fleas or lice?

We describe the infections that appeared in the life and work of John Donne (1572-1631), the English metaphysical poet, mainly the exanthematic typhus that suffered and gave arise to his work Devotions upon emergent occasions, and several steps in my sickness. We discuss the vector of transmission of this disease, in comparison of other infections in that period, that Donne´s scholars have related to the flea without mentioning the body louse, the true vector of the exanthematic typhus. Likewise, we mention the exanthematic typhus´s symptoms in his Devotions in comparison with the Luis de Toro´s or Alfonso López de Corella´s works, Spanish doctors in those times and the first doctors in write books about the disease, and the singular treatment of pigeon carcasses on the soles of the feet in English Doctors but not in Spanish Doctors.

On Courtroom Dramas and Plot Twists: Typhus in Eighteenth-Century London.

This article applies the model developed in Charles Rosenberg's seminal article "What is an Epidemic?" to typhus outbreaks in eighteenth-century London. That framework remains valuable for understanding contagious disease in early modernity by helping to highlight the structure of responses to epidemics. So-called "Jail Fever" outbreaks are especially instructive, in part because the most notorious of these epidemics were small affairs when compared to the larger pandemics that Rosenberg explored. Considering that they accounted for relatively few deaths, historians must answer why they caused such a stir. Whereas the raw body count often drives development of narratives about epidemics, eighteenth-century typhus epidemics often hinged more on who died and where than how many. Typhus ravaged poor and working class communities throughout the period. However, even significant spikes in mortality occurring in poor neighborhoods often failed to trigger proclamations of epidemics. Some deaths mattered more than others in this regard, suggesting that qualitative criteria may have played a greater role than quantitative criteria when it came to identifying which events registered as epidemics in the eighteenth century.

El tifus exantemático en Jerez de la Frontera (1941-1942) / The exanthematic typhus in Jerez de la Frontera (1941-1942) / O tifo exantemático em Jerez de la Frontera (1941-1942)

Los objetivos de este trabajo son: localizar documentación para estudiar la morbilidad y la mortalidad ocasionada por el tifus exantemático en Jerez de la Frontera (1941-1942); estudiar las medidas sanitarias que se llevaron a cabo en esta ciudad contra esta enfermedad, y exponer otros problemas de morbilidad y mortalidad en los años 40

The objectives of this paper are to locate documentation to study the morbidity and mortality caused by exanthematoustyphus in Jerez de la Frontera (1941-1942); to study the sanitary measures that were carried out in this city against this disease, and to point out other problems of morbidity and mortality in the 1940s

Os objetivos deste trabalho são localizar documentação para estudar a morbimortalidade causada por tifo exantematoso em Jerez de la Frontera (1941-1942); estudar as medidas sanitárias adotadas nesta cidade contra essa doença e expor outros problemas de morbimortalidade na década de 1940

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

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.

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.

Epidemiological state-building in interwar Poland: discourses and paper technologies.

ArgumentThe paper argues that epidemic surveillance and state-building were closely interconnected in interwar Poland. Starting from the paper technology of weekly epidemiological reporting it discusses how the reporting scheme of Polish epidemics came into being in the context of a typhus epidemic in 1919-20. It then shows how the statistics regarding nation-wide epidemics was put into practice. It is only when we take into account these practices that we can understand the epidemiological order the statistics produced. The preprinted weekly report form registered Jews and Christians separately. Yet, the imagined national epidemiological space that emerged from it hardly took notice of this separation. Rather, the category that differentiated Polish epidemiological space in medical discourse was the capacity of contributing to the state-making practices of epidemic surveillance. This category divided Poland into two regions: a civilized and modern western region and a backward and peripheral eastern region.

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.

Typhus, yellow fever and Medicine in Mexico during the French intervention / El tifo, la fiebre amarilla y la medicina en México durante la intervención francesa.

French intervention in Mexico (1861-1867) is particularly full of episodes of patriotic heroism in terms of military, politic and, even, religious affairs, however this history is also rich in episodes related to diseases and the evolution of Mexican scientific medicine practice, epidemics such as typhus (nowadays knows as rickettsiosis), yellow fever, or cholera. Principally, this context outlined the Mexican history and influenced the course of the nation. The epidemics served as fertile land for the development of medicine science leading by prominent physicians, particularly by doctor Miguel Francisco Jiménez.

El periodo comprendido entre 1861 y 1867, marcado por la ocupación extranjera, particularmente por Francia, es sin lugar a dudas rico en gestas de patriotismo sin igual en la historia de México por la coyuntura política, militar e incluso religiosa del periodo en cuestión; sin embargo, poco se ha abordado de manera concreta el estado que guardaban la salud y la ciencia médica en dicho periodo, lleno de episodios sumamente interesantes en cuanto a epidemias como el tifo, la fiebre amarilla o el cólera, sobre todo cuando estas enfermedades afectaron y marcaron el rumbo de la historia nacional, a la par con el desarrollo de la naciente medicina científica mexicana encabezada por varios médicos, en especial por el Dr. Miguel Francisco Jiménez.