Typhoid fever
| Typhoid fever | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms | Slow fever |
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| Rose colored spots on the chest of a person with typhoid fever | |
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | Infectious disease |
| ICD-10 | A01.0 |
| ICD-9-CM | 002 |
| DiseasesDB | 27829 |
| MedlinePlus | 001332 |
| eMedicine | oph/686 med/2331 |
| MeSH | D014435 |
Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a bacterial infection due to Salmonella typhi that causes symptoms which may vary from mild to severe and usually begin six to thirty days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several days. Weakness, abdominal pain, constipation, and headaches also commonly occur.Diarrhea is uncommon and vomiting is not usually severe. Some people develop a skin rash with rose colored spots. In severe cases there may be confusion. Without treatment symptoms may last weeks or months. Other people may carry the bacterium without being affected; however, they are still able to spread the disease to others. Typhoid fever is a type of enteric fever along with paratyphoid fever.
The cause is the bacterium Salmonella Typhi, also known as Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi, growing in the intestines and blood. Typhoid is spread by eating or drinking food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person. Risk factors include poor sanitation and poor hygiene. Those who travel to the developing world are also at risk and only humans can be infected. Diagnosis is by either culturing the bacteria or detecting the bacterium's DNA in the blood, stool, or bone marrow. Culturing the bacterium can be difficult. Bone marrow testing is the most accurate. Symptoms are similar to that of many other infectious diseases.Typhus is a different disease.
A typhoid vaccine can prevent about 30% to 70% of cases during the first two years. The vaccine may have some effect for up to seven years. It is recommended for those at high risk or people traveling to areas where the disease is common. Other efforts to prevent the disease include providing clean drinking water, better sanitation, and better handwashing. Until it has been confirmed that an individual's infection is cleared, the individual should not prepare food for others. Treatment of disease is with antibiotics such as azithromycin, fluoroquinolones or third generation cephalosporins. Resistance to these antibiotics has been developing, which has made treatment of the disease more difficult.
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