Typhus

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Murine typhus; Epidemic typhus; Endemic typhus; Brill-Zinsser disease; Jail fever

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)

Bechah Y, Capo C, Mege JL, Raoult D. Epidemic typhus. Lancet Infect Dis. 2008;8:417-426.

Review Date: 09/15/2010
Reviewed By: Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).

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