Typhoid
What is Typhoid?
Typhoid is an acute infectious disease that has taken life of thousand people all around the world. The disease strikes the body in the form of fever. Main cause behind the disease is Salmonella typhi bacteria. Cases of death in this disease are mostly seen in developing countries like Egypt, India, and Pakistan. Whereas, developed countries like the United States has adapted certain system to clean their environmental sanitation to control the risk of spreading Typhoid in the country. Generally, the cases of Typhoid are seen in people who are routine travelers, visiting endemic countries.
The illness is very fatal in nature and can be also caused by other bacteria, named Salmonella paratyphi. It is very infectious and effects by consuming food and contaminated water of an infected person. All over the world research are going on to find the definite solution for this disease.
Symptoms of Typhoid
Typhoid starts with sudden attack of fever last for at least 4 weeks. Because of the high temperature the patient can feel weakness, dizziness, and chilliness in the body. The progress in temperature can be categorized on the basis of the duration they are occurring. Like in the first week, first stage is seen when temperature starts hitting the body. Other than slow rise in the temperature, the patient might have other symptoms like headache, cough, abdominal pain, malaise, and bradycardia.
Diagnosis of bacteria is positive in this stage and decrease in white blood cell count in blood, stating the condition of leucopenia, is possible.
In second stage or second week, the fever shoots up to 104 degree C with bradycardia. Changes occur in delirium, sometime calm and agitated. Some pink spots are seen in the abdomen, along with pain. Patient is prone to having diarrhea in this stage. However, its is reported that constipation can also happen in various cases.
If not controlled properly, the symptoms can become very fatal in the third stage. Like:
Bleeding in Peyer’s patches causing hemorrhage in intestine
Perforation in distal ilem, encephalitis, osteitis, and metastatic abscesses
In fourth stage, defervescence continuing from third stage is detected.
The above mentioned symptoms can sometime include certain other signs. Like
Rise in temperature in the morning and evening
Sore throat and dryness in skin
Diagnosis of Typhoid
A number of tests are conducted to detect the presence of salmonella typhi and its effects. Such as blood test, stool culture, bone marrow culture and widal tests. Stool culture examines and detects the presence of bacteria, transferred by consuming contaminated food, from the intestinal tract.
Misdiagnosis of Typhoid
There are certain symptoms of other disease which can lead to misdiagnosis of Typhoid fever. Like:
Paratyphoid fever: In this persistence of fever is found to be same but it is less severe than Typhoid fever.
Parentric fever: The fever is one type of Typhoid fever only, but the reason behind is not Salmonella typhi bacteria.
Gastroenteritis: Some symptoms, like pain in abdomen and dysentery are like typhoid only. However, the reasons of occurrence and treatment are completely different.
Typhomalarial fever is again misdiagnosed as Typhoid fever. Mosquitoes are cited as the main reason for the occurrence of such type of fever.
So, it is important for the doctor to understand the conditions which can lead to misdiagnosis of the disease. And only right diagnosis can lead to right treatment of the disease.
Causes of Typhoid
Typhoid occurs due to the presence of Salmonella bacteria in the blood of the patient. Salmonella typhi grows in the contaminated environment and food. And, when a person consumes some contaminated food, water or milk then it get transferred to the body of the person. Other than food material contaminated by flies, poorly sanitized environment also act a harbor of this bacteria, and in some cases the disease spread by consuming same food that was consumed by an infected person. Non-vegetarian persons are more prone to this.
After entering in the body of a person, the bacteria is carried by WBC in the blood to the gallbladder, biliary system and lymphatic tissues. In the body they get multiplied in high number and pass to intestinal tract. From here, the bacteria in the body can be easily diagnosed by testing stool of a person.
It’s often seen that some people carry the bacteria even after they get recovered from the disease. Scientifically, known as chronic carrier, they spread these bacteria through their feces. Hence, it’s recommended to keep the sanitation system clean and hygienic.
People who are at maximum risk of getting Typhoid:
Mostly, citizens of developing countries, considered as endemic region of Typhoid, are on higher risk. Typhoid rapidly spread in places where hygiene is not taken seriously. The bacteria of disease live in unhygienic place and can be easily transferred to any person living in that area. Risk is high on children because they themselves can not take proper care of their hygiene.
Well, in developed countries the disease is usually spread by some chronic or asymptotic carriers. People who use to visit endemic regions more often have great chances to get the disease. Returning back they act as a carrier of this disease, affecting people who live or work with them.
Technicians who work microbiology laboratories also have some chances to get affected by this disease. While doing study on bacteria they can get affected by these fatal bacteria.
Treatment of Typhoid
Generally, antibiotics like ampicillin, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim-sulfamethaxazole, Amoxicillin, and ciprofloxacin are given in Typhoid to kill the bacteria spreading in the body of patient. Previously, for mild fever chloromphenicol was give to treat the disease, but looking at its side-effects the usage of the drugs is replaced by some other effective antibacterial drugs. Results show that treating the fever with these drugs has reduced the fatal rate from 20% to 1%-2%. Recovery time is also reduced from a week to 1 or 2 days. While, in case of chronic carrier doctors sometime recommend to remove gallbladder, if the condition becomes serious.
Certainly, some vaccines are available which benefit the people very much. Vi capsular polysaccharide is a latest vaccine that can cure occurrence of Typhoid bacteria up to 3 years. After years of long research medical experts have found solutions to cure typhoid almost 100%.
Other than above mentioned treatments some natural cures are also given below:
Try not to stress out much and take complete bed rest so that, your body retain its stamina after the loss of water
Take diet rich in vitamin C to retain energy and resistance in the body.
One can reduce temperature of the patient’s body by giving him cold pack. And to reduce body-ache one can give hot water pack in a bottle to the patient.
Give lemon water and fruits to the patient to retain the loss of nutrients in the body.
Prevention from Typhoid
Prevention from Typhoid is possible by undertaking several rules in life. Like:
Don’t take eatables from the market. Eatables available in the market are not fresh and are of very low hygienic value. One can see lots of flies flying over it and contaminating the whole food material by passing certain dangerous bacteria on it. So, it is advisable to avoid eatables available in the market to the maximum limit.
Washrooms in common and public places should be avoided. Sanitation quality of general washrooms is very bad as lots of bacteria and viruses live there. So, to avoid attack infectious disease reduces the usage of these washrooms, until it become very urgent.
Avoid drinking water and milk products sell outside. As, water and milk available in the market has high risk of being contaminated, it is advised not to drink it. Boil the water for at least 20 minutes to make it pure and free from bacteria and viruses
Always take pasteurized milk from the market.
Carriers with severe Typhoid bacteria are shifted to some isolation ward in the hospital to control environmental contamination done by these fatal bacteria.
One should be aware of the environmental sanitation prevailing around. Keep your house, especially toilets, clean and keep waste outside your house in the dustbins. Not only house, also try to keep your neighbourhood clean and hygienic.
While traveling, avoid eating risky foods that have greater chances of being contaminated by several bacteria and viruses roaming in the environment.
One should not miss to take typhoid vaccination on time.
Developing countries should try to promote education on Public health, sanitation, hygiene in the society. The authorities should try to make their cities more and more clean and green.
Avoid eating and drinking with the patient having Typhoid because the disease is infectious in nature.
