Causes Of Typhoid Fever

The fever is still very high and oscillates very little over 24 hours. Dehydration ensues and the patient is delirious (typhoid state). By the end of third week the fever has started reducing this (defervescence). This carries on into the fourth and final week.

In the fourth week the fever reduces and comes down gradually by the end of fourth week. And the symptoms decrease. But the Typhoid fever's danger doesn't end when symptoms disappear, even if your symptoms seem to go away, you may still be carrying Salmonella Typhi. If so, the illness could return, or you could pass the disease to other people.

• General symptoms:-

1. The patient feels weak, cold and tired.

2. Headache, backache, diarrhea, constipation,

Temperature rises and remains high for about 10-14 days. Body temperature typically rises in the evening and drops in the morning.

4. Skin eruptions appear, tongue becomes dry and gets white patches in the center, which causes oily taste in mouth and inflamed bones. (sympoms of typhoid fever)

Transmission:-

The bacteria which causes typhoid fever may be spread through poor hygiene habits and public sanitation conditions, and sometimes also by flying insects feeding on feces.

Causes of Typhoid Fever are:

1. Poor sanitation, contaminated water and infected milk are some of the main factors responsible for typhoid.

2. Flies contaminate the food with germs. People carrying the germs can also spread the disease if they prepare or serve food.

3. Wrong dietary habits and faulty lifestyle lead to accumulation of toxic waste in the body and promotes typhoid fever.

4. Typhoid is common in people who eat more meat and meat products.

• Spread of typhoid:-

Salmonella Typhi lives only in humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract. In addition, a small number of persons, called carriers, recover from typhoid fever but continue to carry the bacteria. Both ill persons and carriers shed SalmonellaTyphi intheir feces

Three commonly prescribed antibiotics are ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and ciprofloxacin (Cipro). Persons given antibiotics usually begin to feel better within 2 to 3 days, and deaths rarely occur. However, persons who do not get treatment may continue to have fever for weeks or months, and as many as 20% may die from complications of the infection.

• Medical Treatment

Where resistance is uncommon, the treatment of choice is a fluoroquinolone such as ciprofloxacin otherwise; a third-generation cephalosporin such asceftriaxone or cefotaxime is the first choice. Cefixime is a suitable oral alternative.

Typhoid fever in most cases is not fatal. Antibiotics, such as ampicillin, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, amoxicillin (Amoxil) and ciprofloxacin(Cipro), have been commonly used to treat typhoid fever in developed countries. Prompt treatment of the disease with antibiotics reduces the case-fatality rate to approximately 1%.

When untreated, typhoid fever persists for three weeks to a month. Death occurs in between 10% and 30% of untreated casesIn some communities, however, case-fatality rates may reach as high as