Typhus infections

Hydroxymethyl-6-methyluracil (1043) was prepared many years ago from 6-methyl-uracil and formaldehyde, or in other ways. Since 1956 it has received much attention in the USSR under the (transliterated) name pentoxyl or pentoxil. It is used in several anaemic and disease conditions. For example, a mixture of folic acid and pentoxyl quickly reduces the anaemia resulting from lead poisoning pentoxyl stimulates the supply of serum protein after massive blood loss it stimulates wound healing it stimulates the immune response in typhus infection and it potentiates the action of sulfonamides in pneumococcus infections (70MI21300). 

Lagace also discussed in detail the practice of open-air burning and the issue of how to deal with typhus-infected corpses. Regarding open-air burning, he testified that even with the use of gasoline, in 90% of all cases it would be only the skin that charred, perhaps the limbs would also be burnt, but the torso was very difficult to cremate. 

Chloramphenicol is prescribed to treat meningitis (//. influenzae, S. pneumoniae, and N. meningitides), parathyroid fever, Q fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typhoid fever, typhus infections, brain abscesses, and bacterial septicemia. 

W5. Webb, L., Carl, M., Malloy, D. C., Dasch, G. A., and Azad, A. F., Detection of murine typhus infection in fleas by using the polymerase chain reaction. J. Clin. Microbiol. 28, 530-534 (1990). 

The anticonvulsant Primidone (677) is used to control grand mal and psychomotor epilepsy. 5-Hydroxymethyl-6-methyluracil has been found to stimulate wound healing and the immune response in typhus infection <73MI 602-01 >. 

The German biological warfare programme was literally years behind that of the Allies. Work centred on the Military Medical Academy at Posen, under the supervision of a Professor Blome. Experiments were carried out on concentration camp inmates at Natzweiler, Dachau and at Buchenwald, where prisoners were deliberately covered with typhus-infected lice. 

Brill-Zinsser disease A recurrence of an epidemic typhus infection caused by reactivation of latent organisms harbored in the lymph nodes. 

Sensory systems Hearing A 55-year-old man with confirmed murine typhus developed bilateral hearing loss 9 days after the onset of fever and after taking azithromycin 500mg/day for 3 days [75 ]. The authors postulated that the typhus infection had probably caused the deafness but could not exclude an adverse reaction to azithromycin. 

The tetracyclines are a group of anti-infectives composed of natural and semisynthetic compounds. They are useful in select infections when die organism shows sensitivity (see Chap. 7) to the tetracyclines, such as in cholera, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and typhus. 

These antibiotics are effective in die treatment of infections caused by a wide range of gram-negative and gram-positive microorganisms. The tetracyclines are used in infections caused by Rickettsiae (Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typhus fever, and tick fevers). Tetracyclines are also used in situations in which penicillin is contraindicated, in the treatment of intestinal amebiasis, and in some skin and soft tissue infections. Oral... 

M. D. Nettleman. Biological Warfare and Infection Control. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. 12, no. 6 (June 1991) 368-372. Source for typhus description. 

From Dr. Vetter s reports, Dr. Mertens must know that healthy inmates were being infected with typhus so as to test Farben s Methylene Blue "cure." But what did Hoerlein know Mertens reports to him were weirdly brief, saying nothing of "patients" or "cases." But "experiments" were mentioned — plus the fact that many of the subjects of the "experiments" had died. 

After the talk with Dr. Ding, it was clear to me from his use of the expression "induced infection" that Dr. Ding had not been carrying out clinical tests on soldiers with typhus, but on artificially infected people. From then on, I refused to have the preparation supplied to Dr. Ding for experimental purposes.. . . We decided that the correspondence with Dr. Ding should cease at once and that he should receive no new preparations, or further quantities [of the okf. ... 

Suggested Alternatives for Differential Diagnosis Hepatitis, meningitis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, malaria, yellow fever, leptospirosis, rickettsioses, river viruses, scrub typhus, typhoid, and other viral infections. 

Epidemic Typhus 1. Aerosol 2. Infected vectors No High 6-16 days Weeks to months High Not very stable No Effective No... 

Typhus fever B (Rickeffsia prowazekii) Insects— arthropods (primarily human lice) animals— flying squirrels in the US typically has been seen 1-2 weeb, typically 12 days No (but infected lice can be transferred) Standa d High fever, rash (w/in 6 days), muscle pain, hypotension, photophobia, delirium Typically 2 weeks in untreated pts hat recover Doxycycline, chloramphenicol... 

All of the vaccine preparations discussed thus far are bacterial or viral-based. Typhus vaccine, on the other hand, targets a parasitic disease. Typhus (spotted fever) refers to a group of infections caused by Rickettsia (small, non-motile parasites). The disease is characterized by severe rash and headache, high fever and delirium. The most common form is that of epidemic typhus ( classical or louse-borne typhus). This is associated particularly with crowded, unsanitary conditions. 

Respiratory, skin, and soft-tissue infections UTIs pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) brucellosis trachoma Rocky Mountain spotted fever typhus Q fever lickettsia severe acne (Adoxa) smallpox psittacosis ornithosis granuloma inguinale lymphogranuloma venereum intestinal amebiasis (adjunctive treatment) prevention of rheumatic fever ... 

Miscellaneous infections caused by susceptible strains of bacteria causing psittacosis, cholera, melioidosis, leptospirosis, brucellosis, bartonellosis, plague, tularemia, Campylobacter fetus infection, rickettsial infections including typhus and Q fever, relapsing fever due to Borrelia recurrentis and actinomycosis in penicillin allergic patients. 

Because of potential toxicity, bacterial resistance, and the availability of many other effective alternatives, chloramphenicol is rarely used. It may be considered for treatment of serious rickettsial infections such as typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. It is an alternative to a B-lactam antibiotic for treatment of meningococcal meningitis occurring in patients who have major hypersensitivity reactions to penicillin or bacterial meningitis caused by penicillin-resistant strains of pneumococci. The dosage is 50-100 mg/kg/d in four divided doses. 

By negotiations between British and German officers, British troops took over from the SS and the Wehrmacht the task of guarding the vast concentration camp at Belsen, a few miles northwest of Celle, which contains 60,000 prisoners, many of them political. This has been done because typhus is rampant in the camp and it is vital that no prisoners be released until the infection is checked. ... 

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