Typhoid - Symptom, Treatment And Causes

Typhoid is an illness that is caused by the Salmonella typhimurium bacterium. This bacteria lives in the bloodstream and intestine of human beings.

Typhoid spreads between people only by direct contact with the feces of a Salmonella typhimurium infected person.As no animal can be a carrier of this disease, so typhoid is always transmitted human to human.If typhoid is left untreated, approximately 1 among 4 cases of this disease ends up in death. Nevertheless if treated at the right time the mortality rate is less than 4 percent. Once the bacteria enters the body through the mouth, it the S.typhi bacterium stays in the host’s intestine for 1-3 weeks. After this it slowly makes its way into the bloodstream of the infected patient.Thereafter it spreads to other tissues and organs of the host. The immune system of the patient can hardly fight with the S.typhi bacterium, as it can live within the patient’s cells, shunned away from the host’s immune system.

This disease is diagnosed by detecting the presence of this bacterium in the stool, blood, urine or the bone marrow samples of the infected patient.

Countries which have less access to clean water and proper washing facilities register higher number of typhoid cases.

Some of the safety rules while travelling for avoiding Typhoid are:

• Drink bottled water.
• In absence of bottled water, drink boiled water that has been boiled for at least one minute before its consumption.
• Avoid eating foods from street food stands, or eat while the food is still hot.
• Do not encourage yourself to have ice in your drinks.
• Avoid peeled raw fruits, rather always peel the fruits yourself.
• Beware of consuming any food that has been handled by someone else.

South America, Africa and Asia (especially India) are places which are more known for getting infected with this disease.

Before travelling to places which are considered to be high risk zones, getting yourself vaccinated against this disease is recommended. Vaccination against typhoid can be done by a one-off injection or by oral medications.

The live oral vaccine against typhoid consists of 4 tablets. You must take one tablet every day, with an approximation that the last tablet must be consumed 1 week before the travel.For inactive typhoid vaccine a single injection must be taken 2 weeks before the travel date.Typhoid oral live vaccination must be avoided if the person is ill, under 6 years of age or is suffering from HIV.