Colorado health officials are investigating an outbreak of a rare infection known as Trench fever among Denver’s homeless population.
So far, health officials have detected four cases, with the last reported on Thursday.
As public health officials are addressing the coronavirus pandemic, which has been confirmed in more than 40,000 cases in the state and blamed for more than 1,700 deaths, they also are trying to determine any links to the cases of trench fever among the homeless in Denver.
The rare disease, which got got its name after it was known to infect World War I soldiers, is typically transmitted by body lice among homeless persons and where people have poor access to good hygiene.
People with compromised immune systems also are at higher risk of infection.
Colorado health officials are investigating an outbreak of a rare infection known as Trench fever among Denver’s homeless population (pictured)
The rare disease, which got got its name after it was known to infect World War I soldiers (pictured), is typically transmitted by body lice among homeless persons and where people have poor access to good hygiene
After issuing an advisory on Thursday, health officials also urged doctors to keep close eye for any new cases, Kaiser Health News reported.
Outbreaks have occurred in recent years in San Francisco and Seattle homeless camps.
Trench fever is caused by a bacterium known as Bartonella quintana, which is related to the same disease that causes cat scratch fever.
The feces of body lice is what transmits trench fever, which causes relapsing fever, bone pain (especially in the shins), headaches, nausea, vomiting and malaise.
The feces of body lice is what transmits trench fever, which causes relapsing fever, bone pain (especially in the shins), headaches, nausea, vomiting and malaise
Some of those infected can develop skin lesions or a life-threatening infection of their heart valves.
The disease enters the body through breaks in the skin, as well as through the eyes and nose. It is usually treated with antibiotics and by the removal of body lice.
Health officials also warned that cases of trench fever may also may have been overlooked, due to the attention being placed on the coronavirus pandemic.
The economic hardships caused by the outbreak also may be exacerbating the spread of trench fever as more people are driven into homelessness.
Dr. Michelle Barron, medical director of infection prevention and control at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, told Kaiser News that a trench fever diagnoses may be easy to miss.
Doctors often treating other ailments with similar symptoms will prescribe antibiotics and not notice that a patient may have had the infection.
The bacteria responsible also can take up to 21 days to grow in a lab culture. She said that two of the confirmed cases in Denver had grown just before their cultures were about to be discarded.
Barron said she received a call last month from a lab after the third case was confirmed among homeless people in Denver. That prompted her into action.
‘Two is always an outbreak, and then when we found a third — OK, we clearly have something going on,’ Barron said she remembered thinking at the time.
She had not seen a case of the disease for at least two decades and alerted public health authorities, who went forward with their advisory as a fourth homeless person was reported infected on Thursday.
All the cases were reported months apart.
So far, health officials have detected four cases of trench fever among homeless people in Denver, with the last reported on Thursday. Tents pitched by homeless people are pictured in a park across from the State Capitol in Denver