Typhoid Fever Information and Treatment

Typhoid is a disease caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi due to contaminated eating and drinking. Its symptoms can vary from person to person and in most cases, headache, muscle pain, dizziness, and prolonged fever are seen. It is necessary to treat it in a timely manner so that the complications can be prevented. Without treatment, the disease is greatly aggravated and can cause fatal damage to many organs including the intestines.

Typhoid fever is also known as Motizhara, oral fever, sweet fever, rash fever, mental fever, Motijhla Mubaraki, internal fever, and enteric fever Typhoid fever, Motijhara, Mauktik fever, Madhurak Jwar, Manthar Jwar, Moti jhala mubarki, entric fever.

Typhoid mainly has bowel disorders. In this, the spleen enlarges and pearl-like grains appear on the body. Fever persists for a long time. This fever keeps on coming for a month. Head hair falls due to this fever.

Typhoid is a contagious disease caused by bacteria. Its bacteria go through the stomach into the intestines and start growing in the bile of the duodenum. Then it causes inflammation in the small intestine and then reaches the large intestine. The bacterium of typhoid begins to grow very rapidly in the blood, in liver and spleen. Its bacteria live in feces for up to 15 days. The infected person can pass the disease to other healthy people. The duration of typhoid fever is 3 weeks and it starts descending from the 21st day due to the medicines.

What is typhoid fever?

Typhoid fever is a serious disease spread by contaminated food and water. Typhoid Salmonella entices serotype is caused by Typhi bacteria. It can also be caused by Salmonella paratyphi, which is a related bacterium and usually causes less severe disease.

Symptoms of typhoid include prolonged high fever, weakness, abdominal pain, headache, and loss of appetite. Constipation and skin rashes are also seen in some patients.

About 3% –5% of people become carriers of bacteria after the disease. Some other people do not have some symptoms of typhoid, but bacteria can remain in them for a long time and they are troubled by this disease for many years.

Typhoid fever occurs in countries with hot climates, such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

What are the symptoms of typhoid fever?

The incubation period of typhoid is 1–2 weeks, and the duration of the disease is about 3–4 weeks.

Symptoms include:

• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Dry cough
• Extremely swollen abdomen
• Fever that starts low and increases daily, possibly 104.9 F (40.5 C) Fever that starts low and increases daily, possibly reaching as high as 104.9 F (40.5 C)
• Generalized aches and pains
• Headache
• Sloth Lethargy
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Muscle Aches
• Poor appetite
• Rash Rash
• Sweat Sweating
• Weakness and fatigue

Chest tightness is seen in many people. Abdominal pain and diarrhea are also common. The condition improves in the third and fourth weeks. About 10% of people have recurrent symptoms after feeling better for one to two weeks. This is more common in individuals treated with antibiotics.

What is Typhoid Carrier?

Even after treatment with antibiotics, some bacteria of typhoid fever remain in the intestinal tract or cheek bladder for many years. These people, called chronic carriers, have this bacteria in their feces and are able to infect others, although they no longer have signs or symptoms of the disease.

Even after the symptoms go away, you should have your stool examined so that the typhi bacteria is still present or not.

If there are bacteria, you can become a carrier of typhoid infection, and you may need to take another 28-day course of antibiotics to flush out the bacteria. The test results of the stool test done again, show whether the bacteria are now in your body.

Ten internal typhoid carriers were treated with ampicillin and have been studied for 4 to 9 years and found that the disease did not recur.

How is typhoid fever diagnosed?

By eating contaminated food and water, this bacteria gets into the body. It reaches the intestines and joins the blood. It penetrates into the lever, spline, and sow merrow, and multiplies. Fever occurs when its number increases suddenly. Bacteria then move into the cheek bladder, bile system, and Bowel’s lymph tissue, and then multiply. It goes into the intestines and its presence in the body is detected by stool samples.

It is also diagnosed with blood and urine.

What is the allopathic treatment of typhoid?

Typhoid fever is treated with antibiotics that kill Salmonella bacteria. Before the use of antibiotics, mortality was 20% so that the heavy infections, pneumonia, bleeding in the intestines, or holes in the bowel was to be. Antibiotic use does not allow bacteria to grow and control the numbers.

Antibiotics and good care mortality is 1% –2%. With appropriate antibiotic treatment, improvement usually occurs within one to two days and health begins to improve within seven to 10 days.

Many antibiotics are effective for the treatment of typhoid fever.

Antibiotics are selected based on geographical areas. The disease Amoxycillin, Ampicillin, Trimethoprim may be given.

Chloramphenicol was used for many years to treat typhoid. Due to rare severe side effects, chloramphenicol has been replaced by other effective antibiotics.

For this, chloramphenicol is given first.

Chloramphenicol

• Adult 500mg 6 hourly for 14 days
• Children above 1 years 12।5mg/kg/dose, 6 hourly for 14 days

Alternatively Ciprofloxacin

Adult and children over 15 years 500mg 12 hourly for 10 days

Ciprofloxacin is not given to children below 15 years and pregnant women.

Chloramphenicol is must not be given in the third trimester of pregnancy. The use of medicine may cause irreversible aplastic anemia.

The disease occurs repeatedly in about 3% –5% of people. They can be given antibiotics for a long time. In many people, repeated infections can be prevented by removing the gallbladder.

Must read: Ayurvedic medicines of typhoid

Typhoid care at Home

• Keep the patient in a ventilated and clean room.
• Let him rest physically and mentally.
• Eat light food and seasonal diet.
• Drink milk. If there is diarrhea, do not give milk. Give buttermilk and rice water.
• Sponge if fever comes. Ask to do regular coolies.
• Make a decoction by mixing 12 grams dry ginger and 10 grams dry grapes and drink it in the morning.

Typhoid fever prevention

Vaccines can be used for typhoid but it is only 50% -80% effective. You can get this disease even after taking it.

• Being careful in eating and drinking is the only protection.
• Eat only hot and well-cooked food.
• Use pasteurized dairy products only.
• Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly with clean water.
• Do not eat chaat pakoras, golgappas, etc., which are mixed on the roadside.
• Do not consume raw or undercooked meat or fish.
• Do not eat raw, properly cooked eggs.
• Drink bottled water outside the house.
• Drink hot coffee or tea only.
• Drink pasteurized milk only.
• Do not drink tap water.
• Do not drink bottled juice, water with ice in the hotel, etc.
• Wash your hands often with soap.
• If soap and water are not available, clean your hands using a sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol to clean your hands.
• Do not contact those who are ill, such as kissing, hugging, or eating utensils or sharing those clothes.

Typhoid is an acute systemic disease resulting from infection by Salmonella typhi. It is a bacterial infection. This infection is acquired through the ingestion of contaminated food and water. The main symptoms of the disease include high fever, headache, abdominal pain, and either constipation or diarrhea.

It is a bacterial infection and vaccines are available for the disease but these vaccine does not give 100 % protection against the disease. Also, such vaccines are not recommended for the common population but are reserved for those who may be exposed to the disease or are traveling to areas where typhoid fever is common.

The best way of prevention is to maintain proper hygiene and avoid intake of unhygienic food.