What is Louse-borne typhus?
* It is a rickettsial disease with variable onset, but is often characterised by the sudden appearance of headaches, chills, prostration, high fever, coughing & severe muscular pain. A macular eruption (dark spot on the skin) appears on the fifth to sixth day, initially on the upper trunk, which then spreads to the entire body excepting, usually, the face, palms & soles of the feet. The case-fatality rate is between 1% & 20%. * Cause: The causative agent, Rickettsia prowazekii, is transmitted by the human body louse, Pediculus humanus corporis, which is infected while feeding on the blood of patients with acute typhus fever. (Head lice or pubic lice play no role in transmission.) Infected lice excrete rickettsiae when feeding on a second host. People are infected by rubbing louse faecal matter or crushed lice into the bite wound or through scratching. * Prevalence: The body louse lives in clothing & multiplies very rapidly under poor hygienic conditions. Lice proliferate rapidly in ref
