Examining trends in epidemic typhus using historical texts.

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Although associated with conflict, epidemic typhus was endemic across Europe into the modem period. The extent of the problem it caused is uncertain as record keeping in the most affected socioeconomic groups was rare. Google Ngram Viewer details the frequency of word usage in written language over time. The objective was to examine whether use of the word typhus reflected potential patterns in epidemic typhus. METHODS: The frequency of the word 'typhus' was used in British English was studied between 1800 and 2019 and trends were examined. RESULTS: Clear differences in word usage were apparent; use increased throughout the 19 th century corresponding to increasing industrialization. Peaks coinciding with World Wars 1 and 2 were apparent. Strong correlations with the words "conflict", "warfare" and "industry" were seen. Mean shifts corresponded to public health legislation in the UK and the introduction of antibiotics. INTERPRETATION CONCLUSION: This study illustrates how examination of word usage can illuminate aspects of disease occurrence where official data sources are lacking.

Rudolph Virchow's Upper Silesia report: the starting point for his simultaneous engagement with public health and antisemitism.

In 2023 an important anniversary took place. It regards Virchow's report on the Upper Silesia epidemic typhus, which was associated with the death of numerous Polish peasants. It is also the starting point of Virchow's political career and fight against antisemitism, which has reached fearful levels in academia. Antisemitism is not new, but the recrudescence following the October 7th massacre of Jewish and not-Jewish people is appalling and recalls Virchow's vehemence of the past a few decades before the Nazi extermination of the Shoah during the World War II.

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.

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.

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.

The RAMC at Belsen 1945: typhus revisited.

OBJECTIVE: The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) has justly regarded its relief of the appalling conditions found in the liberated Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen in April 1945 as one of its more glorious achievements. This view has, in the last decade, come under attack from historians who have, inter alia, criticised the nature and speed of the medical measures employed by the British. This has focused particularly on the management of the typhus epidemic, erroneously claimed to be the major disease killer of the survivors, and which was the catalyst for the premature German surrender of the camp to the approaching Allies about 3 weeks before the end of the war. This review examines the veracity of this statement and the nature of the evidence on which it was based. METHODS: Review of all the relevant extant primary source written evidence both published and archived in major collections in London, Washington and Belsen, in addition to the relevant subsequent secondary evidence. RESULTS: Disprove the ill-considered and scientifically flawed attempts to discredit the RAMC and demonstrate that the RAMC can be shown to have made the correct prioritising decisions in relieving starvation as well as in implementing the appropriate public health anti-typhus measures and to have acquitted itself honourably. DISCUSSION: Underlines the pitfalls of basing sweeping conclusions on an imperfectly understood inadequate selection of the available evidence.

[Typhus in Mexico City in 1915]. / El tifo en la Ciudad de Mexico en 1915.

The year 1915 was particularly difficult; it was characterized by droughts, famines, and outbreaks of diseases including typhus.This text exposes its spread in Mexico City as well as the measures implemented to combat it, carried out before knowing the etiology of the illness, focused on cleaning up the environment and the measures undertaken afterwards with the aim of delousing people.

[Spotted fever and the invention of its serodiagnosis and vaccination in the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I]. / Das Fleckfieber und die Erfindung seiner Serodiagnose und Impfung bei der k. u. k. Armee im Ersten Weltkrieg.

After description of the medical institutions and epidemiological situations of the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I the provisions against spotted fever focused on louse control are discussed. The letter specified for the army had to be adjusted for the local populations. 1915 in the k.u.k. military service in Galicia Edmund Weil and Arthur Felix cultivated Proteus strains from urine of soldiers with spotted fever. As sera of such patients agglutinated these bacteria in considerable titers the investigators developed the reliable diagnostic "Weil-Felix-Test" used still today. In the same military area and time Rudolf Weigl invented the anal infection of lice. This enabled him to harvest a great amount of louse intestines containing the spotted fever Rickettsiae in their epithelial cells. Lots with defined numbers of intestines were homogenized, sterilized and used with success as vaccine for medical staff. This sort of vaccine still was used in World War II.

Drought and epidemic typhus, central Mexico, 1655-1918.

Epidemic typhus is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii and transmitted by body lice (Pediculus humanus corporis). This disease occurs where conditions are crowded and unsanitary. This disease accompanied war, famine, and poverty for centuries. Historical and proxy climate data indicate that drought was a major factor in the development of typhus epidemics in Mexico during 1655-1918. Evidence was found for 22 large typhus epidemics in central Mexico, and tree-ring chronologies were used to reconstruct moisture levels over central Mexico for the past 500 years. Below-average tree growth, reconstructed drought, and low crop yields occurred during 19 of these 22 typhus epidemics. Historical documents describe how drought created large numbers of environmental refugees that fled the famine-stricken countryside for food relief in towns. These refugees often ended up in improvised shelters in which crowding encouraged conditions necessary for spread of typhus.

[The eagle and the louse: typhus in the Grand Army]. / L'aigle et le pou: le typhus dans la Grande Armée.

How is it that lice, such a common parasite, have shaken the Napoleonic empire? This paper, based on medical literature and on proven facts, is going to tell the history of such a "war pestilence", a "contagious typhus".

[Exanthematic typhus epidemic in Chile (1932-1939)]. / Epidemia de tifus exantemático en Chile (1932-1939).

After the great epidemic of the exanthematic typhus of 1918-1919 in Chile, there was a gradual decrease in the number of cases , until it became endemic around 1926. Starting in 1932 and until 1939 a new epidemic outbreak occured that prompted researchers to its study supported by the new clinical and technological advances of this period. Subsequently, two important events occured: the erradication of the vector ( human louse) by means of effective insecticides and the discovery of an effective antibiotic treatment.

[Typhus fever morbidity among the military personnel and civilians in the regions around Volga river during World War I].

The article is concerned to the materials about epidemiologic situation of typhus fever in the regions around Volga river (Saratovsky, Samarsky and others) during World War I (1914-1918) among the military personnel of the Russian army and among the civilians. The main reasons for spread of infection, ways of the transmission, and also measures for decreasing of level of morbidity on the different stages of evacuation of patients with typhus fever in the safer hospitals are shown. The most important methods of fighting against epidemic of typhus fever were: isolation of patients in separate special hospitals, desincection and disinfection measures in the foci of infection and organization appropriate sanitary conditions for military man in the army and among civilians. Acquired valuable experience of territorial and military doctors during the period of epidemic of typhus fever allowed receiving complex effective antiepidemic measures of fighting and prevention from this disease.

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.

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 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.

Typhus syncopalis: an epidemic in Connecticut in 1823.

In 1825 Dr. Thomas Miner wrote about an epidemic that occurred in Middletown, Connecticut in 1823. He called this disease "Typhus syncopalis," sinking typhus, or New England spotted fever. Differences in the understanding of disease processes in the early 19th century preclude a definitive modern equivalent fortyphus syncopalis. In addition, there are disagreements among Dr. Miners' contemporaries with regard to fever classification systems. Examination of the symptoms and physical findings as described by Dr. Miner suggest the presence of encephalitis or meningitis as well as a syndrome resembling a shock-like state. Based on symptom comparisons, this paper suggests that typhus syncopalis was likely meningococcemia caused by Neisseria meningiditis.

[The humanitarian work of France in the Sahara. The Health Service of the army in the territories of Southern Algeria (1900-1976]. / L'oeuvre humanitaire de la France au Sahara. Le Service de Santé des armées dans les Territoires du Sud algérien (1900 - 1976).

Medical assistance to the Saharian populations (1900-1976) is viewed through its organization. The management of the Health Service in the Southern Territories, doctors, nursing staff, medical districts, centred on infirmary-hospitals and rural first-aid posts. We insist on the everrising free consultations and the care to sick and wounded patients in infirmaries; the fight against epidemics and social scourges. Then on French medical mission from 1963 to 1976, and on the humanitarian work by the Health Service throughout the five continents.

[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.