La Valentine disease: An outbreak of exanthematic typhus in Marseille, France, in 1810.

Abstract

Exanthematic typhus was highly frequent in the early 19th century among military troops and prisoners and at hospitals. Based on old reports, we describe an outbreak in a village, in Southern France, in 1810. Twenty-eight cases were identified, over a period of 10 days following the death of the index case, in a soldier. Symptoms included notably persistent constant fever, myalgia and headaches, gastro-intestinal symptoms, prostration and stupor. Three patients suffered delirium and nine died (31.0%). Overall, symptoms persisted for 13-14 days. A total of 16 cases were secondary to contacts with the index case, and 10 cases were in house-hold contacts of secondary cases. Five familial clusters were described. This data suggest that exanthematic typhus outbreaks among civilian populations also occurred outside the context of hospitals, in link with introduction of the disease by prisoners or soldiers.