Typhoid,causes And Treatments
Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella typhi bacteria
. It occurs due to unhygienic condition, open sewerage, flies and of course, illiteracy. The disease is very common in developing countries and can affect anyone. The incubation period is between 3 days and 60 days.
The most common symptoms of typhoid fever besides those mentioned above are stomach pain, chills, weakness, fatigue and slow heart rate. Antibiotics are used to kill the bacteria but of late, antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria are developing making the treatment protocol more difficult.
Developing countries are now taking measures to educate people on the importance of hygiene to stem the spread of the disease. In addition, governments are improving infrastructure so that open drains and sewers no longer pose a threat.
However, a lot still has to be done to contain the disease, especially in the Indian sub-continent, Africa and other Asian countries.
Vaccines are available for preventing typhoid but it is not recommended until the individual may have potentially long exposure to unclean areas having contaminated food and water. This is because there are various side effects for the vaccine and also thorough investigation has not been done on the immunological complications that can arise by the vaccine.
The side effects of the vaccine include vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, headache and malaise. In fact, they have similar side effects as the fever itself. Some of the other disorders include rashes, hypertension, serum sickness and urticaria. Patients are also found to experience neck pain, tremor and loss of consciousness.
Mary Mallon came to the United States from Switzerland to work as a domestic caretaker for a family in New York. Soon afterwards, the whole family developed horrible fever, diarrhea and were very sick. Her doctor diagnosed typhoid fever.
After she was caught for causing her tenth known outbreak, she was incarcerated and spent the rest for her life there, dying 31 years after her first epidemic. Typhoid Mary carried the typhoid fever germ in her gall bladder for the rest of her life, even though she, herself, was not sick.
One hundred years ago in New York City, at least 10 epidemics of typhoid fever were traced to a single cook who was later called Typhoid Mary. Recent medical reports tell us how the epidemics could have been prevented and what could have been done to help her.
Causes
When this rod-shaped bacterium is ingested, it binds itself to the wall of the intestine and penetrates the walls barrier, and is conveyed to the liver or spleen where it can cause symptoms of food poisoning diarrhea, gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, and occasionally death.
Anti-malarial drugs are necessary if you are planning to visit an area where malaria is prevalent. Make sure you buy enough pills to last your entire trip. However, you should start taking the medication a week before you depart, and then during your entire trip.
Make sure that you receive inoculations for diseases like diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, chicken pox, mumps and rubella. In addition, get inoculated for diseases like cholera, typhoid and hepatitis in case you are traveling to a country with poor sanitation.
The best way to avoid being infected is to make sure that foods that should be cooked before consumption are cooked thoroughly. This applies especially eggs and pork. Never use raw eggs in home-made recipes that are served uncooked or baked, such as salad dressing or mayonnaise.
The first symptoms of typhoid are much like influenza. Fever, headache, back-ache, loss of appetite, chilliness with occasional nose-bleed, diarrhea or constipation are the common complaints. When these conditions continue for a length of time typhoid is suspected.
Treatments
The disease is transmitted from an infected person to another through the fecal oral route via contaminated food and water. Therefore, unhygienic and unsanitary conditions lead to the spread of the disease.
Finally, authorities caught Mary Mallow and told her never to work in a restaurant or handle food prepared for others. The epidemics continued, but she would then disappear before she could be caught and reappear later in another restaurant under an assumed name.
Scientists have developed a special type of coating that helps certain medicines pass through the stomach undigested. This coating was developed in order to help deliver treatments for such diseases as typhoid fever to the small intestine where they would have the opportunity to help. Peppermint oil capsules are now available with this 'enteric-coating' property.
The most common complication is perforation of the intestinal wall, necessitating surgical intervention. One should suspect the possibility of this complication if the patient develops severe abdominal pains. Unless the hole is closed the patient will die of general peritonitis.
Another serious complication is hemorrhage. This may not be very great but on the other hand it may be massive, necessitating transfusions.
by: harry jackson
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