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Trench nephritis, also known as war nephritis, is a kidney infection, first recognised by medical officers as a new disease during the early part of the First World War and distinguished from the then-understood acute nephritis by also having bronchitis and frequent relapses. Trench nephritis was the major kidney problem of the war.
Trench fever (also known as "five-day fever", "quintan fever" (Latin: febris quintana), and "urban trench fever" [1]) is a moderately serious infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bartonella quintana and transmitted by body lice.
These diseases could take a massive toll on the soldiers, with trench fever possibly pulling a soldier away from the front lines for months at a time. Rats were carriers of lice . Lice can also transmit disease and played a role in spreading trench fever amongst the soldiers.
The predominant disease in the trenches of the Western Front was trench fever. Trench fever was a common disease spread through the faeces of body lice, which were rampant in trenches. Trench fever caused headaches, shin pain, splenomegaly, rashes and relapsing fevers – resulting in lethargy for months. [55]
Trench foot was an informal name applied to the condition from its prevalence during the trench warfare of World War I. [1] Health officials at the time used a variety of other terms as they studied the condition, but trench foot was eventually formally sanctioned and used. [2] Informally, it was also known as jungle rot during the Vietnam War. [5]
Bartonella quintana, originally known as Rochalimaea quintana, [2] and "Rickettsia quintana", [3] is a bacterium transmitted by the human body louse that causes trench fever. [4] This bacterial species caused outbreaks of trench fever affecting 1 million soldiers in Europe during World War I .
They were constantly wet and water would often build up to several inches. Urine, body odor, poison gas, bad food, rats, little clothing, and misery all defined the trench lifestyle. Diseases such as trench foot emerged and close quarters caused the infection to be passed from one person to another and from rats and bugs to humans as well. Loud ...
At 5:10 a.m., gas and smoke clouds rose from the German trenches and moved towards the British trenches, blown by a south-easterly wind. The gas cloud was so thick at the beginning, that visibility was reduced to 2–3 yd (1.8–2.7 m); wearing gas helmets was necessary 3.5 mi (5.6 km) behind the front line and the smell was noticed 15 mi (24 ...