Typhus primary prevention

Revision as of 00:32, 30 July 2020 by WikiBot (talk | contribs) (Bot: Removing from Primary care)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Typhus Microchapters

Home

Patient Information

Overview

Historical Perspective

Classification

Pathophysiology

Causes

Differentiating Typhus from other Diseases

Epidemiology and Demographics

Risk Factors

Natural History, Complications and Prognosis

Diagnosis

History and Symptoms

Physical Examination

Laboratory Findings

Chest X Ray

Other Diagnostic Studies

Treatment

Medical Therapy

Primary Prevention

Secondary Prevention

Cost-Effectiveness of Therapy

Future or Investigational Therapies

Case Studies

Case #1

Typhus primary prevention On the Web

Most recent articles

Most cited articles

Review articles

CME Programs

Powerpoint slides

Images

American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Typhus primary prevention

All Images
X-rays
Echo & Ultrasound
CT Images
MRI

Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov

US National Guidelines Clearinghouse

NICE Guidance

FDA on Typhus primary prevention

CDC on Typhus primary prevention

Typhus primary prevention in the news

Blogs on Typhus primary prevention

Directions to Hospitals Treating Typhus

Risk calculators and risk factors for Typhus primary prevention

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

No licensed vaccines for prevention of rickettsial infections are commercially available in the United States. With the exception of the louse-borne diseases, for which contact with infectious arthropod feces is the primary mode of transmission (through autoinoculation into a wound, conjunctiva, or inhalation), travelers and health-care providers are generally not at risk for becoming infected via exposure to an ill person. Limiting exposures to vectors or animal reservoirs remains the best means for reducing the risk for disease. Travelers should be advised that prevention is based on avoidance of vector-infested habitats, use of repellents and protective clothing, prompt detection and removal of arthropods from clothing and skin, and attention to hygiene.

Primary Prevention

Avoid areas where you might encounter rat fleas or lice. Good sanitation and public health measures reduce the rat population. Measures to get rid of lice when an infection has been found include:

  • Bathing
  • Boiling clothes or avoiding infested clothing for at least 5 days (lice will die without feeding on blood)
  • Using insecticides (10% DDT, 1% malathion, or 1% permethrin)

Vaccine

The first major step in the development of the vaccine was Charles Nicolle's 1909 discovery that lice were the vectors for epidemic typhus. This made it possible to isolate the bacteria causing the disease and develop a vaccine; he was awarded the 1928 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this work. Nicolle attempted a vaccine but was not successful in making one that worked on a large enough scale.[1]

Henrique da Rocha Lima in 1916 then proved that the bacteria Rickettsia prowazekii was the agent responsible for typhus; he named bacteria after H. T. Ricketts and Stanislaus von Prowazek, two zoologists who died investigating a typhus epidemic in a prison camp in 1915. Once these crucial facts were recognized, Rudolf Weigl in 1930 was able to fashion a practical and effective vaccine production method by grinding up the guts of infected lice that had been drinking blood. It was, however, very dangerous to produce, and carried a high likelihood of infection to those who were working on it.

A safer mass-production-ready method using egg yolks was developed by Herald R. Cox in 1938.[2] This vaccine was used heavily by 1943.

References

Template:WH Template:WS