Henrique da Rocha Lima (24 November 1879 – 12 April 1956) was a Brazilian physician, pathologist and infectologist born in Rio de Janeiro. With his friend, Stanislaus von Prowazek, he described what would later be known as Rickettsia prowazekii, the pathogen of epidemic typhus.

Epidemic typhus, also known as louse-borne typhus, is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters where civil life is disrupted. [4][5] Epidemic typhus is spread to people through contact with infected body lice, in contrast to endemic typhus which is usually transmitted by fleas. [4][5]

2023年4月3日 · Epidemic typhus, sometimes called louse-borne typhus, is caused by the bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii, and this form of typhus is transmitted to humans by the body louse Pediculus humanus humanus.

An epidemic is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time; in meningococcal infections, an attack rate in excess of 15 cases per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks is considered an epidemic. [1]

2023年3月21日 · Epidemic typhus, sometimes called louse-borne typhus, is caused by the bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii, and this form of typhus is transmitted to humans by the body louse Pediculus humanus humanus.

Rocha Lima has discovered the causative agent of typhus and had a major contribution to the studies of yellow fever, Chagas disease, Carrión’s disease and histoplasmosis. His genius, his research and his discoveries projected his name, and, with it, the image of Brazil in the international scientifi c scene.

Epidemic typhus is transmitted to human beings by the body louse Pediculus humanus corporis. The disease is still considered a major threat by public-health authorities, despite the efficacy of antibiotics, because poor sanitary conditions are conducive to louse proliferation.

Rocha Lima has discovered the causative agent of typhus and had a major contribution to the studies of yellow fever, Chagas disease, Carrión’s disease and histoplasmosis. His genius, his research and his discoveries projected his name, and, with it, the image of Brazil in the international scientifi c scene.

Prowazek had studied epidemic typhus in Serbia in 1913, and in 1914 they did research on an epidemic in Istanbul. In 1915 they both became infected while working in a prison hospital in Germany, facing an outbreak of epidemic typhus among the Russian prisoners of war. Prowazek died on February 17, 1915.

In the U.S. between 1837 and 1873, outbreaks were recorded in Philadelphia, Concord, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Henrique da Rocha Lima, discovered the cause of epidemic typhus in 1916 while doing research n Germany. 3 million deaths occurred.Delousing stations were set up to reduce typhus infection.Even though there was a vaccine by WW2 ...