Rickettsia prowazekii
| Rickettsia prowazekii | ||||||||||||||
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| Rickettsia prowazekii da Rocha-Lima, 1916 |
Rickettsia prowazekii is a species of gram negative, rod shaped, aerobic bacteria that is the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus, transmitted in the feces of lice and fleas. R. prowazekii is often surrounded by a protein microcapsular layer and slime layer; the natural life cycle of the bacteria generally involves a vertebrate and an invertebrate host, usually an arthropod, typically a louse. A form of R. prowazekii that exists in the feces of arthropods remains stably infective for months.
Henrique da Rocha Lima , a brazilian doctor discovered this bacteria, in 1916.
Vaccines against R. prowazekii were developed in the 1940s, and were highly effective in reducing typhus deaths among U.S. soldiers during World War II. Immunity following recovery from infection with, or by immunization against, R. prowazekii is lifelong in most cases. However, R. prowazekii can establish a latent infection, which can reactivate after years or decades.
Gallery
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![Dorsal view of a female head louse, Pediculus humanus var. capitis. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]](/images/1/1b/Rickettsia_prowazekii03.jpeg)
Dorsal view of a female head louse, Pediculus humanus var. capitis. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]
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![Adult female body louse, Pediculus humanus, and two larval young. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]](/images/c/c3/Rickettsia_prowazekii02.jpeg)
Adult female body louse, Pediculus humanus, and two larval young. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]
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![Photomicrographic view of a culture specimen revealing the presence of numerous Borrelia recurrentis bacteria, which causes European relapsing fever and is transmitted from person-to-person by way of the human body louse. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]](/images/0/02/Rickettsia_prowazekii01.jpeg)
Photomicrographic view of a culture specimen revealing the presence of numerous Borrelia recurrentis bacteria, which causes European relapsing fever and is transmitted from person-to-person by way of the human body louse. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]
![Dorsal view of a female head louse, Pediculus humanus var. capitis. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]](/index.php/File:Rickettsia_prowazekii03.jpeg)
![Adult female body louse, Pediculus humanus, and two larval young. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]](/index.php/File:Rickettsia_prowazekii02.jpeg)
![Photomicrographic view of a culture specimen revealing the presence of numerous Borrelia recurrentis bacteria, which causes European relapsing fever and is transmitted from person-to-person by way of the human body louse. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]](/index.php/File:Rickettsia_prowazekii01.jpeg)
References
- Template:PDFlink National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. NIH Publication No. 03-5315. (January 2003).