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, myalgia
• transmitted by arthropods/ ticks
• painless eschar at inoculation site imp clue
• camping, hiking in grassy/ scrub area
• regional LN, rash, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia

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

• Usually clinically

Treatment

• Tetracycline
• confirm serologically

See Also

• Travel Medicine