Trench nephritis
Trench nephritis | |
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Other names | War nephritis[1] |
Specialty | |
difficulty breathing and bronchitis.[2] | |
Risk factors | Trench warfare |
Prognosis | Low mortality, long recovery, frequent relapses |
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
The term trench nephritis was coined by
Later evidence showed that trench nephritis may have been due to hantavirus, carried by rodents.
Background
Before the First World War, kidney diseases had been described in medical textbooks by physicians including
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Indian soldiers in trenches, Gallipoli (1915)
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British soldier in trenches, Somme (1916)
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Canadian soldiers in trenches, Somme (1916)
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Italian soldiers in trenches (1918)
First World War
Trench nephritis, a term coined by
Affected soldiers presented with sudden onset of
The cause was not established during the war and therefore preventative measures were not implemented.[2] Trench nephritis was ineffectively treated in the same way that acute nephritis had been treated before the war. Research into the condition was stopped in 1918.[1]
Epidemiology
Along with other trench diseases such as trench foot and trench fever, trench nephritis contributed to 25% of the British Expeditionary Force's triage bed occupancy and was the major kidney problem of the First World War.[2][8] The condition led to hundreds of deaths and 35,000 British and 2,000 American casualties.[1][9] The mortality was low, but men took a long time to recover.[1]
Significance
Trench warfare was significant in subsequent wars such as the
References
- ^ PMID 16820794.
- ^ PMID 3518420.
- ^ ISBN 9781443830638– via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 9781443830638– via Google Books.
- ISBN 9781443830638– via Google Books.
- ^ PMID 26913887.
- S2CID 199779128.
- PMID 32850756.
- PMID 25418685.
- ^ Thompson, Julian (18 September 2014). "Falklands Conflict Gallery By Major General Julian Thompson". BBC. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
- ^ PMID 9204306. Archived from the originalon 28 March 2021.
- PMID 24402305.
Further reading
- Raw, Nathan (25 September 1915). "Trench nephritis: A record of five cases". British Medical Journal. 2 (2856): 468. PMID 20767829.