Prevention of typhoid symptoms and treatment
An endemic disease is a disease that continues to spread in a specific area. Most of them have the characteristics of infectious diseases caused by bacteria or parasites, and are reported to occur mainly in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Typhoid is a disease caused by infection with a specific subspecies of Salmonella, Typhi. Various systemic symptoms such as fever and abdominal pain are characteristic, and it has the characteristic of appearing in the form of an acute infection. Typhoid is transmitted through food or water contaminated with Salmonella typhi, or through contact with an infected person. Infection occurs through fish and shellfish grown in contaminated water, crustaceans, and fruits with feces on them. Also, food prepared by the patient himself can be infected with typhoid bacteria and spread. Now, let’s learn about the main symptoms, treatment, and prevention of typhoid. The main symptoms of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever varies slightly depending on the number of bacteria that have penetrated into the body, but usually has an incubation period of 1 to 3 weeks. After the incubation period, fever, chills, and headache appear in the early stages. Among these, the most common symptom is fever, and the fever gradually rises over a period of about 1 week, and then in 2-3 weeks, you may suffer from continuous high fever. In addition, abnormal symptoms related to the gastrointestinal tract such as loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation may accompany, and after a few days, symptoms such as bradycardia, which slows down the pulse, symptoms of enlarged spleen, and abdominal pain may also appear. If untreated, typhoid symptoms persist for 3 to 4 weeks. During the course of the process, complications such as intestinal perforation, intestinal bleeding, toxic encephalopathy, and cerebral thrombosis may appear. And although the probability is low, complications can lead to life-threatening emergencies. With proper treatment, most patients are known to get better within a few days. In addition, it is reported that if untreated, about 10% of patients excrete the bacteria by 3 months after onset, and 2-5% become asymptomatic permanent carriers. Typhoid treatment and prevention
1. Appropriate treatment
Typhoid can be diagnosed by confirming Salmonella typhi in samples such as blood, stool, urine, and bone marrow as well as the patient’s clinical symptoms. After that, they are isolated and treated according to the diagnosis result. Treatment with quinolone antibiotics, penicillins, or cephalosporins. In addition, the infected person should be allowed to freely drink fluids as their water and electrolyte requirements significantly increase due to high fever. And sometimes aspirin is used to relieve symptoms of high fever. Aspirin can cause a sudden drop in body temperature and can even cause hypotensive shock, so it is best to avoid using it.
2. Thorough personal hygiene management
In order to prevent typhoid, personal hygiene and thorough environmental hygiene management are the most important. It is important to wash your hands with soap and running water for at least 30 seconds before eating or after going to the bathroom. And in an epidemic area, you must boil water and drink it, and make sure to thoroughly manage food hygiene. In addition, it is important to separately manage the items touched by the typhoid patient, and to thoroughly manage personal hygiene including hand washing for those who have come in contact with the patient.
3. Implementation of vaccination
To prevent typhoid, it is a good idea to get vaccinated before visiting a country where typhoid is endemic. In particular, it is advisable to get vaccinated if you travel or stay in high-risk areas such as Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Central and South America for a long period of time. Even if vaccinated, if the risk of infection is high, revaccination within 2-3 years can minimize the risk of infection.
