Special Issue “The Past and Present Threat of Rickettsial Diseases”

摘要

Historically, the rickettsioses have a track record of making substantial impact on mankind in military activities and international public health over the past centuries [1]. Napoleon’s Grande Armée suered from great losses due to epidemic typhus (and trench fever), while scrub typhus was the major infectious disease associated with losses in both Allied and Japanese troops in the Asia-Paci?c region during World War II, and similarly during the Vietnam con?ict. The discovery of chloramphenicol in the 1940s led to a sense of security in the treatment of these diseases and a subsequent reduction in related research activities.