Typhoid Fever

Every year approximately 12.5 million people around the world are affected by the disease Typhoid, for some, resulting in death. For most people in western society, not much is known about Typhoid, as it is a life-threatening disease found mainly in developing countries. Typhoid is a dangerous infectious disease caused by bacteria and can be spread from person to person, thus those in Western countries usually acquire the disease when travelling. This essay will discuss certain issues relating to Typhoid, including its causes, symptoms and treatment as well as discussing whether a cure would be better than prevention and can this disease be prevented at all.

Typhoid is a common disease of developing countries and thus is not often found in industrialised countries such as the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and Japan. For example in the United States, which has a population of about 250 million people, on average, there are only 400 reported cases of Typhoid a year. Seventy percent of these cases result from international travel. Thus many people are educated about the causes and preventions of Typhoid before travelling to developing countries.

Typhoid is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi, which only lives in humans. Those with the disease carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract and some of those who recover may continue to carry the disease which can be passed on to others. Both ill persons and carriers shed S. Typhi in their faeces. The bacterium can be spread to a person if they eat food or drink beverages that have been handled by a person who is shedding S. Typhi. It may also be caused by contaminated water, which becomes infected from sewerage. Therefore, typhoid fever is more common in developing countries where hygiene is poor thus spreading the disease and allowing for water to become contaminated easily. Once the Typhoid bacterium enters the body, it multiplies and spreads to the bloodstream causing the onset of fever and other symptoms.

Typhoid has a number of symptoms, including flu-like symptoms, feeling weak, stomach pains, headache and/or loss of appetite. Symptoms more unique to Typhoid Fever include an extremely high fever ranging as high as 39° to 40° C, and in some cases, patients may have a rash of flat, rose-coloured spots. The only way to truly diagnose Typhoid Fever is to have samples of human waste or blood tested for the presence of S. Typhi. With so many symptoms which can be dangerous to a person, treatment must be administered early on in the disease.

Typhoid is a life-threatening illness and thus when any symptoms of the disease show up, a person must always receive professional treatment from a doctor. Typhoid is not like the common cold which can be cured through home treatment, and instead more than often requires the taking of antibiotics. Some common antibiotics used to treat Typhoid include ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and ciprofloxacin. After the administration of antibiotics a patient may often feel better within one to two days. On the other hand persons who don’t receive medical attention may continue to have fever and other symptoms for weeks or even months, and as many as 20% may die from the infection. In other words, approximately 2.5 million people die from the illness each year. Of course a better thing to fight Typhoid with, is to prevent the disease in the first place. Some ways that an individual can prevent the illness include avoiding risky food and drinks, keeping good hygiene and being vaccinated against the disease, mainly before travelling to developing countries. However research has shown that even a vaccination isn’t very efficient against the disease as the vaccines aren’t completely effective, and thus watching your food and drink can be just as important as being vaccinated.

While talking about prevention let’s discuss the issue of whether or not a cure would be better than prevention. First of all let’s look at the facts about Typhoid. As we know Typhoid is mainly found