How did they prevent trench fever?
First recognized in 1915, trench fever was a major medical problem during World War I. It reappeared in epidemic form among German troops on the Eastern front during World War II. The control of body lice is the chief means of prevention.
What is the cure for trench fever?
Trench fever/urban trench fever – For uncomplicated disease, doxycycline 100 mg orally (PO) twice daily for 28 days and gentamicin 3 mg/kg/day intravenously (IV) for 14 days ; macrolides and ceftriaxone are also effective.
What animal causes trench fever?
Introduction. Bartonella quintana infection (historically called ‘trench fever’) is a vector-borne disease primarily transmitted by the human body louse Pediculus humanus humanus.
Was trench fever caused by lice?
Trench fever is a louse-borne disease caused by the gram-negative bacterium Bartonella quintana and observed originally in military populations during World Wars I and II. Symptoms are an acute, recurring febrile illness, occasionally with a rash.
What does trench fever look like?
Symptoms and Signs of Trench Fever After a 14- to 30-day incubation period, onset of trench fever is sudden, with fever, weakness, dizziness, headache (with pain behind the eyes), conjunctival injection, and severe back and leg (shin) pains.
What happened to soldiers with trench fever?
University of Kansas School of Medicine. In mid-1915 physicians in the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France began to notice an unusual acute febrile illness in soldiers accompanied by headache, dizziness, back ache, and a peculiar pain and stiffness in the legs, particularly the shins.
What is trench fever?
Trench fever is a louse-borne disease caused by the gram-negative bacterium Bartonella quintana and observed originally in military populations during World Wars I and II. Symptoms are an acute, recurring febrile illness, occasionally with a rash. Diagnosis is by blood culture.
What happens if you get trench fever?
Trench fever is a bacterial disease transmitted by body lice. The symptoms include relapsing fevers, muscle aches, pain behind the eyes, severe headache, joint pain, rash, liver and spleen enlargement, and pain in the shins.
How do you test for trench fever?
Diagnosis of Trench Fever
- Blood cultures.
- Serologic tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.
How did soldiers get trench fever?
While the Americans concluded that the bite of the louse transmitted the disease, the British demonstrated that it was the rubbing of louse excreta into abraded skin that transmitted the agent of Trench Fever, by their reckoning bites rarely transmitted the disease agent.
Why did soldiers get trench fever?
Trench fever is a clinical syndrome caused by infection with Bartonella quintana. The condition was first described during World War I, when it affected nearly 1 million soldiers.
What does Trench Fever look like?
Which is the best treatment for trench fever?
Trench fever/urban trench fever – For uncomplicated disease, doxycycline 100 mg orally (PO) twice daily for 28 days and gentamicin 3 mg/kg/day intravenously (IV) for 14 days; macrolides and ceftriaxone are also effective.
How did trench fever get its name in World War 1?
Overview. Trench fever is a bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Bartonella quintana, which is carried and transmitted to humans by the common body louse (a small, wingless insect that lives in the clothes of infested people). Trench fever received its name during World War I, when millions of troops living in close,…
When to tell your doctor about trench fever?
The signs and symptoms of trench fever are common to many other illnesses, so it is important to tell your doctor if you suspect you have body lice or trench fever. Your doctor may choose to test your blood for the presence B. quintana.
What happens if trench fever is left untreated?
Trench fever is not usually a serious disease and can be easily treated; if left untreated, serious complications include heart damage. Who’s at risk? Trench fever is found all around the world, usually in populations living close together and/or with very unhygienic conditions.