15. Wearing lice to fight typhus
Throughout wartime, typhus has killed ruthlessly. Caused by the bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii, delirium, gangrenous sores, and death are the results. The disease wiped out over 300,000 French soldiers during Napoleon’s infamous 1812 retreat from Russia. And the cause of this hellish disease was mysterious. Then, in the early 20th Century, French bacteriologist Charles Nicolle noticed that typhus patients who took hot baths and were given clean clothes were no longer infectious. He was certain human lice were spreading the disease. and his discovery prompted the Western Front to establish delousing stations in WWI. People on the Eastern front, where these stations weren’t established, were tragically less fortunate. The disease went on the rampage, wiping out millions of civilians in Russia, Romania, and Poland.
In the interim between WWI and WWII, Polish biologist Rudolf Weigl began experimenting, hoping to develop a vaccine. Using guinea pigs early on, he graduated to people in 1933. During a 12-day period, uninfected lice were placed in cages, then strapped to a person’s calves or thighs so that they could feed daily for up to 45 minutes. Then the lice were injected with R. prowazekii thus infecting them with typhus. Weigl allowed them to feed on people who had been vaccinated for an additional five days. And the vaccine, made from the crushed guts of infected lice that were made into a paste, was hugely successful. So much so, that the few human subjects (including Wiegl himself) who developed typhus recovered almost immediately.
But I’ve saved this truly sinister device for last.