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Typhoid fever is caused by bacteria and symptoms include fever, fatigue, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. It is transmitted through contaminated food or water. Antibiotics are the main treatment and have significantly increased survival rates. Chronic carriers can be treated with prolonged antibiotic treatment or removal of the gallbladder.
Typhoid fever is a disease caused by bacteria. Symptoms include decreased appetite, headaches, body aches and pains, fever, fatigue, and diarrhea. Fever can reach 103° to 104° C (39° to 40° F) in those with this disease. The bacteria have an incubation period that can last up to two weeks, and once symptoms are evident, they can last up to four to six weeks.
Some people with typhoid may have chest congestion, but it doesn’t affect everyone who develops the disease. Many people experience pain and discomfort in the abdominal area. After the second or third week of illness, a patient without further complications may experience improvement in typhoid symptoms; about one in ten will have recurring symptoms, even after noticing improvement for a week or two. Interestingly, those who have been treated with antibiotics may be more likely to relapse than others.
Salmonella typhi typically causes typhus, although Salmonella paratyphi also sometimes causes symptoms. However, the disease caused by the S. paratyphi bacterium is often less severe. Humans are typically exposed to these bacteria through food or water contaminated with the feces of someone who carries or is infected with the disease.
Sometimes, the symptoms of typhoid are so mild that the disease goes undiagnosed or even undetected. Some people who have mild cases become carriers. This means they don’t become obviously ill, but they can pass the disease on to others for years after their initial exposure. About 3% to 5% of those with typhoid become carriers.
The main treatment for typhoid is antibiotic drugs, which have significantly increased the survival rate of the disease. Today, about 1% to 2% of people with this disease die; years ago, about 20% of patients died. In fact, treatment with antibiotics often helps patients start feeling better within a couple of days and recover in a week or 10 days rather than weeks later. Even those who have become chronic carriers don’t need to be stuck in that condition indefinitely. Prolonged antibiotic treatment and/or removal of the gallbladder, the organ where chronic infection often takes place, can alleviate their carrier status.
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