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Trench Fever- New Origins Found

Discussion in 'Military History' started by GRW, Nov 5, 2020.

  1. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    Makes sense, since it's spread by lice.
    "First observed among British Expeditionary Forces in 1915, trench fever sickened an estimated 500,000 soldiers during World War I. Since then, the disease has become synonymous with the battlefield. But now, new research from an international team of scientists has uncovered evidence challenging this long-held belief.
    The research, published this week in "PLOS ONE", outlines the discovery of DNA evidence of the disease in civilian remains predating WWI by thousands of years. In total, the team analyzed bone fragments and teeth of 145 individuals alive between the 1st and 19th centuries. Approximately 20% of those remains contained traces of Bartonella quintana, the bacteria responsible for trench fever...
    ...While most associate this disease with WWI and WWII, occurrences of trench fever are still reported today, most prominently within homeless populations. The bacteria are spread to humans through contact with body lice (Pediculus humanus corporis), making poor personal hygiene a primary factor in its spread and infection rate. Researchers hope that by tracing the progression of B. quintana through history, they’re able to identify ways to better manage the spread of the disease today."
    New research traces the origins of trench fever
     
  2. bronk7

    bronk7 Well-Known Member

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    ..sounds logical.....now that you mention this, it would seem there would've been a ''lot'' more diseases ---because of poor hygiene/etc--- that were not reported/well known .....especially the humid/etc Pacific
    ....maybe even ''new'' ones
    ..so it's not specific to combat conditions?
     
  3. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    No, but probably exacerbate it.
     
  4. bronk7

    bronk7 Well-Known Member

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    wow..I'm reading The Day of Battle again--- right now, and on page 472:
    ''the lice are at me now, and I haven't washed or shaved for a fortnight''''
    ....I can't believe I just read this after reading your thread today...
     
  5. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    I believe the lice were a problem everywhere you could not use the shower enough often and personal hygiene was poor. The Finns used the sauna to kill the lice with heat and the clothes were sauna treated as well.Still the lice soon came back.

    There is a joke on this: a Finnish soldier was sleeping in a bed. He noticed big lice on the wall and pulled the bed out of wall contact. The lice were so big that they pulled the bed back to the wall..
     
  6. bronk7

    bronk7 Well-Known Member

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  7. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    I think the problem is the body lice not the head lice.At least the article claims the head lice only stay in your hair.

    Lice

    The crab however can jump to your eyebrows. Not a nice sight....



    Lice are small bloodsucking insects that live on the skin of mammals and birds. Three species of lice have adapted themselves to humans: the head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis), the body louse (Pediculus humanus) and the crab or pubic louse (Pthirus pubis) (Fig. 4.15). All three species occur worldwide. Lice infestations can cause severe irritation and itching. In addition the body louse can transmit typhus fever, relapsing fever and trench fever. Outbreaks of louse-borne typhus fever, sometimes claiming thousands of lives, have occurred in colder areas where people live in poor, crowded conditions, especially in some highland areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

    Body lice
    Body lice are most commonly found in clothing, especially where it is in direct contact with the body, as in underwear, the crotch or fork of trousers, armpits, waistline, collar and shoulders. They attach themselves to body hair only when feeding. The eggs are attached to thin threads of clothing. Body lice are most common in colder areas where people do not frequently wash or change clothes.

    Body lice are spread by close contact between people. They are most commonly found, therefore, on people living in overcrowded, unhygienic conditions, as in poorly maintained jails, refugee camps and in trenches during war. They also spread by direct contact between people in crowded transport vehicles and markets. Body louse infestations may also be acquired through sharing bedding, towels and clothing or by sitting on infested seats, chair covers or cushions.



    Head lice
    The head louse is the most common louse species in humans. It lives only in the hair on the head and is most often found on children. The eggs (or nits) are firmly glued to the base of hairs of the head, especially on the back of the head and behind the ears (Figs. 4.17 and 4.18). Because the hairs grow about a centimetre a month it is possible to estimate the duration of an infestation by taking the distance between the scalp and the furthest egg on a hair. Infested persons usually harbour 10-20 adult head lice. The females lay 6-8 eggs per day. Head lice are spread by close contact between people, such as children at play or sleeping in the same bed. Head lice are also spread by the use of other people’s combs that carry hairs with eggs or lice attached.



    Crab or pubic lice
    Crab lice, also called pubic lice, are greyish-white and crab-like in appearance. They are most often found on hair in the pubic region, and eggs are laid at the base of the pubic hair. Heavy infestations may spread to other hairy areas of the body, such as the chest, thighs, armpits, eyelashes, eyebrows and beard. Crab lice are mainly spread through sexual or other close personal contact, and are most common in young, sexually active adults
     
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  8. TD-Tommy776

    TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

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    So, it was a roll of the lice...

    Sorry. (Not really)
     
  9. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    What a lousy joke...:p:D
     
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  10. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    It was not a couple of lice what I have read there were simply hundreds under the clothes and killing them never stopped. All day and all through the night.
     
  11. TD-Tommy776

    TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

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    ISWYDT. ;)
     
  12. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    :D:p;)
     

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