typhus /tī″fəs/ [Gk, typhos, fever] , any of a group of acute infectious diseases caused by various species of Rickettsia and usually transmitted from infected rodents to humans by the bites of lice, fleas, mites, or ticks. Kinds include epidemic typhus, murine typhus, scrub typhus. See also Brill-Zinsser disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever. ▪ OBSERVATIONS: These diseases are all characterized by headache, chills, fever, malaise, and a maculopapular rash. ▪ INTERVENTIONS: Doxycycline and chloramphenicol are the antibiotics of choice for treatment. ▪ PATIENT CARE CONSIDERATIONS: A typhus vaccine is available.
