Typhus

Background

• Not to be confused with typhoid fever, a distinct disease caused by a different genera of bacteria
• Any of several similar diseases caused by Rickettsia bacteria (e.g. Rickettsia prowazekii, )

Clinical Features

Epidemic typhus

• Fever, headache, myalgias
• Transmitted by arthropods/ ticks
• Painless eschar at inoculation site imp clue
• Camping, hiking in grassy/ scrub area
• Regional lymphadenopathy, rash

Differential Diagnosis

Fever in traveler

• Normal causes of acute fever!
• Malaria
• Dengue
• Leptospirosis
• Typhoid fever
• Typhus
• Viral hemorrhagic fevers
  • Ebola virus disease
  • Marburg virus disease
  • Lassa fever
  • Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever
• Chikungunya
• Yellow fever
• Rift valley fever
• Q fever
• Amebiasis
• Zika virus

Diagnosis

• leukopenia, thrombocytopenia
• Usually clinically

Treatment

• Tetracycline
• Chloramphenicol may be an alternative, though associated with higher morbidity
• Confirm serologically, not useful in acute phase

See Also

• Travel Medicine