They gave live Rickettsia prowazekii to concentration camp prisoners, using them as a control group for the vaccine tests.The use of DDT as an effective means of killing lice, the main carrier of typhus, was discovered in Naples. Society and culture
Biological weapon
Typhus was one of more than a dozen agents that the United States researched as potential biological weapons before President Richard Nixon suspended all non-defensive aspects of the U.S. biological weapons program in 1969. Poverty and displacement
The CDC lists the following areas as active foci of human epidemic typhus: Andean regions of South America, some parts of Africa; on the other hand, the CDC only recognizes an active enzootic cycle in the United States involving flying squirrels (CDC). Though epidemic typhus is commonly thought to be restricted to areas of the developing world, serological examination of homeless persons in Houston found evidence for exposure to the bacterial pathogens that cause epidemic typhus and murine typhus. A study involving 930 homeless people in Marseille, France, found high rates of seroprevalence to R. prowazekii and a high prevalence of louse-borne infections in the homeless.Typhus has been increasingly discovered in homeless populations in developed nations. Typhus among homeless populations is especially prevalent as these populations tend to migrate across states and countries, spreading the risk of infection with their movement.
Having a strong physician-patient alliance can also lead to the improvement of symptoms. The condition is often managed with drugs including H1-antihistamines, tricyclic antidepressants, tetracyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, or benzodiazepines.If the cause is found to be dermatologic in nature, dermatologists can offer solutions such as intralesional injections, wet wraps and other occlusive options. Menthol and cool compresses can also relieve the patient of their itch. It is also common for psychologic conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, bipolar and psychosis to present with pruritus. Epidemiology
The incidence is not known. However, it is more common in females of the age range of 30-45 years. See also
List of cutaneous conditions

References


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