CHAPTER LIX 



WAR ZONE FEVERS 



General remarks — Trench fever — Icterus castrensis gravis — Icterus castrentis 



levis — References . 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



It may be thought that it is unnecessary to introduce the subject 

 of the diseases of the different zones of the war into a work on 

 tropical diseases, but many of the maladies which have affected 

 the troops during the war in the Salonica area, in Egypt and 

 Palestine, in Mesopotamia and East Africa, are essentially tropical 

 diseases, as were those of Gallipoli. Most of the fevers from which 

 the troops suffered have been described in the preceding chapters, 

 and many of the other diseases, such as the dysenteries and skin 

 diseases, will be dealt with in the chapters which follow; but, 

 excluding these, there are three conditions which merit a little 

 consideration — viz., trench fever and the severe and mild forms 

 of infective jaundice, often called icterus castrensis gravis (or Weil's 

 disease), and camp jaundice — ^because, in making a diagnosis of a 

 fever, these conditions must be considered, and we are now pre- 

 paring the way for the chapter on diagnosis. 



We therefore consider that a very brief account of these three 

 conditions is necessary for our present purpose. 



TRENCH FEVER. 



Synonyms. — Periodic one-day fever, Salonica fever, Pyrexia of unknown 

 origin, Five days' fever, Volliynia fever, Russian remittent fever, Meuse 

 fever, Trench skin. Gaiter fever. Shin fever. Trench shin. Shank fever, Polish 

 fever. Quintan fever. French, La Fievre des trenchees ; German, His-Wernersche 

 Krankheit, Funftagefieber, Periodische Fieber; Latin, Febris quintana, 

 Febris volhynica. 



Definition. — ^A relapsing fever of as yet unknown origin, and spread 

 hy Pediculus corporis de Geer, 1778, commonly by the infected faeces 

 being rubbed into the excoriated skin. It is characterized by a sudden 

 onset of fever associated with pains in muscles and bones, particu- 

 larly in the legs, with especial tenderness of the shins, and lasting 

 twenty-four to forty-eight hours or longer, followed by other attacks 

 of fever of less and less severity, separated by apyrexial intervals 

 of five days' duration (more or less) , and ending in complete recovery. 



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