Hello. Thank you for writing to us. The reason for precipitous hair fall after a major illness/ stressful event is known as telogen effluvium. The hair loss that you now experience post-rickettsial illness is actually quite expected. Telogen efluvium usually starts 1-3 months after a stressful event. This stressful event can be a medical illness like e.g dengue , malaria, jaundice etc Or ricketsial disease as in your case. Telogen effluvium is due to sudden shift in hair growth cycle from Anagen, which is the growth phase to Telogen, which is the resting phase. Once hair enters telogen in response to a stresful event, it is subsequently going to be shed over the next 1 -3 months. This phenonmena of sudden increase in shedding is known as telogen effluvium. Recovery is spontaneous as the resting hair follicle re-enters anagen Or growth phase and this may take another 3-6 months. There is no specific treatment for telogen effluvium except for counselling about the natural history and spontaneous recovery in 3-6 months. It is advisable to take a good healthy nutritious diet rich in proteins and other nutrients during the recovery phase. Regards