01769nas a2200205 4500008004100000245012200041210006900163260001600232300001000248490000600258520113500264653001401399653001301413653001401426653001801440653001101458653001801469100002301487856005301510 2021 eng d00aTyphus in the Warsaw Ghetto 1940-1942: how an epidemic increased exponentially, was abated and eventually disappeared0 aTyphus in the Warsaw Ghetto 19401942 how an epidemic increased e cJan-01-2021 a51-550 v13 a

Typhus, a bacterial infection caused by Rickettsia prowazekii, was widespread in Europe for centuries and was endemic in Eastern Europe until the 1950s. Between 1940 and 1942, a devastating typhus epidemic occurred in the Warsaw Ghetto causing an estimated 16,000-22,000 deaths. Between November 1940 and October 1941, the epidemic increased exponentially. After a sharp peak in October, the trend reversed, and the number of new infections decreased to reach zero in July 1942. Until recently, epidemiologists were unable to explain the peculiar shape of the epidemic curve. Based on the memories of Ludwik Hirszfeld, a Polish physician and microbiologist who spent three years in the Ghetto, it seems that improvement of diagnosis, health education and measures targeted at the interruption of the transmission of R. prowazekii via body and head lice led to a turnaround of the epidemic’s dynamics and eventually to the elimination of R. prowazekii. Notably, all measures developed by Hirszfeld were implemented without the knowledge of the German occupiers and functioned in the underground.

10abody lice10aepidemic10ahead lice10aR. prowazekii10atyphus10aWarsaw Ghetto1 aFeldmeier, Hermann uhttps://www.oaepublish.com/articles/ohir.2021.03