History Case: Typhus in the Past

A typical symptom of European typhus is the patient's marked psychosis at the peak of the illness, a state of incessant state of delirium. Typhus comes from the Greek "t uj o s " meaning stupor, referring to the frenzy developed by the sick.

Until the last century, typhus (also known as war fever, tabardillo, European typhus, jail fever) and dysentery killed more people during any war than did wounds inflicted by armed conflict. After 1914, typhus could basically be controlled through annual vaccinations in the German army (http://vho.org).