Abstract
THE louse of man, Pediculus humanus,is concerned with the transmission of the microorganisms of at least three of his diseases. From the medical point of view, therefore, it is a creature of importance and especially during periods of war. The most virulent of these diseases is epidemic typhus which, in Europe, occurs in the U.S.S.R., the Balkans and many parts of the Mediterranean region. In recent years it has steadily receded and disappeared not only from England and Wales but also from western Europe. It is noteworthy that it did not break out on the Western Front during 1914-18, notwithstanding the virulent epidemics that prevailed in Serbia during that period. The second louse-borne disease is trench fever which, it will be recollected, was so prevalent in the armies of the Great War. Yet, when that calamity ended, the disease vanished from western Europe while the louse still remains. Relapsing fever is the third louse-borne malady and is widely distributed in eastern Europe, where epidemics prevailed during the years 1914-18.
The Louse
An Account of the Lice which Infest Man, their Medical Importance and Control. By Prof. Patrick A. Buxton. Pp. ix + 115. (London: Edward Arnold and Co., 1939.) 7s. 6d. net.
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IMMS, A. The Louse. Nature 145, 723 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/145723a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/145723a0