What Is Bartonella?
Reviewed: Dr. Gromatzky
6. Trench Fever
The Bartonella Quintana bacterium was responsible for a disease that was particularly widespread throughout World War I: Trench fever. It was so named because it was so prevalent in the trenches of WWI, when soldiers were staying in cramped quarters and in unhygienic conditions.
Trench fever is caused by bites from body lice that were able to thrive under the conditions at the time. The disease is still existant today, and it tends to be found in homeless people. Outbreaks also occasionally break out among people who share needles for intravenous drug use. It is also sometimes known as the five-day fever.
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