It
is a serious communicable disease caused by bacteria and is commonly called as
enteric fever. The bacterium lives in the intestine and produces several
intestinal disorders.
Occurrence: It is found throughout the world. It
is most common in areas with lack of sanitation and poor standards of drinking
water.
Causative organism: The causative organism of typhoid is
bacterium, Salmonella typhi which is
a rod shaped gram-negative bacteria.
Reservoir and source of infection: This bacterium is restricted to human
host. The patient and infected person (carriers) act as reservoir. The urine
and faecal matter of infected person act as source of infection.
Mode of transmission: The typhoid spread by direct or
indirect contact with patient or carrier. It gets transmitted by contaminated
food, drinks, raw fruits and vegetables.
In some cases the flies also help to contaminate food and drinks.
Incubation period: The incubation period ranges from one
to three weeks with an average of two weeks.
Symptoms: Typhoid may be characterized by
following symptoms:
·
Constant
high fever for one to three weeks.
·
The
fever relapses when other parts of body are affected. The bone marrow, spleen,
gall bladder etc are affected.
·
Intestinal
wall shows lesions, haemorrhage and ulceration.
·
Swelling
of spleen.
·
Constipation
is more common than diarrohea. In few cases death may results due to intestinal
hemorrhage.
Diagnosis: Typhoid is diagnosed by blood, urine or
stool test.
Preventive methods
(Prophylaxis): The
preventive methods are:
·
Proper
sanitation.
·
Proper
personal cleanliness.
·
Proper
sewage disposal.
·
Control
of flies.
·
Protection
of food and drinks from contamination.
·
Proper
treatment of raw fruits and vegetables before eating.
·
Protection,
purification and chlorination of drinking water.
·
Immunization
with TAB vaccine( Typhoid, paratyphoid-A and paratyphoid-B)
Treatment: Antibiotics like Ampicillin,
Chloramphenicol, Amoxicillin etc. are used for the treatment of typhoid.