The contributions of James CarmichaelSmyth, Archibald Menzies and RobertJackson to the treatment of typhus in royalnaval vessels in the late 18th century

摘要

In late 18th century Britain, typhus fever plagued the mass mobilisation of soldiers and posed a significant challenge tophysicians of the time. Epidemic typhus was spread through highly infectious faeces of infected lice and carried a highmortality in patients and healthcare staff alike. Physicians James Carmichael Smyth (1741-1821) and Archibald Menzies(1754-1842) theorized that typhus fever was caused by infection of human exhalation. They trialled the use of vapourisednitrous acid to fumigate patients, their clothes and their bedspace, with apparent success. Despite this, typhus fever con-tinued to ravage deployments of soldiers into the early 19th century, stimulating the continuing evolution of the under-standing of typhus and its treatment.