Typhoid Fever Facts: Causes, Types, Possible Treatments – AccuHealth Diagnostics

Typhoid fever is caused by a bacteria called Salmonella typhi. For children, typhoid fever is still a serious health threat.

Typhoid fever can be caused by contaminated food and water. Typhoid fever is contagious and close contact with an infected person can also cause typhoid fever.

Signs and symptoms of typhoid usually include:

• High fever
• Headache
• Stomach pain
• Constipation or diarrhea

Most people having typhoid fever start feeling better a few days after starting antibiotic medication. Only  a small number of people may die of complications.

Symptoms of Typhoid Fever

Signs and symptoms of typhoid fever are likely to develop gradually. The symptoms normally tend to appear one to three weeks after you get the typhoid disease.

Early Signs and symptoms include:

• Fever that starts with fever low and then increases on a daily basis reaching as high as 104.9 F (40.5 C)
• Headache
• Weakness and fatigue
• Muscle aches
• Sweating
• Dry cough
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Stomach pain
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Rash
• Extremely swollen stomach

Signs and symptoms of Later illness:

If the treatment does not start on time, you may:

• Become delirious
• Lie exhausted and motionless with your eyes half-closed in what’s called as the typhoid state
• Life-threatening complications often develop at this time.

Signs and symptoms of the typhoid fever may return up to two weeks even after they have apparently recovered in some people. It is also possible to have typhoid without fever or any signs and symptoms of the disease.

Diagnostic Tests and Exams for Typhoid Fever

Your health care provider will perform a physical exam and ask about the symptoms.

• A complete blood count or a CBC test that can indicate a high number of white blood cells.
• A blood culture during the first week of the fever can show the presence of the Salmonella typhi bacteria.

Some other tests that may help diagnose typhoid fever include:

• ELISA blood test to look for Salmonella typhi bacteria antibodies
• Platelet count (platelet count may be low)
• Stool culture

Typhoid Fever Treatment and Food

Typhoid fever is treated with antibiotics that are effective in killing the Salmonella typhi bacteria. The fatality rate caused by typhoid fever was 20% prior to the use of antibiotics. Death occurred in the following cases:

• Infection
• Pneumonia
• Intestinal bleeding, or
• Intestinal perforation.

Mortality has been reduced to 1%-2% with antibiotics and supportive care. Improvement is seen in patients taking antibiotics usually within one to two days and recovery usually starts within 7 to 10 days with proper antibiotic therapy. Patients are retreated with antibiotics if relapses occur. Patients who become chronically ill, which is usually about 3%-5% of those infected according to data, are normally treated with longer antibiotic courses.

Food recommended to eat during typhoid fever includes:

• Take a High Calorie diet
• Take food High in Carbohydrate content
• Have plenty of Fluids
• Have fruits with high Water content
• Consume Dairy products

• Have Soup
• Have Cooked Vegetables
• Eat simple boiled yellow Moong Daal
• Eat Bananas
• Have Honey
• Take foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids

If your doctor is suspecting that you may be having typhoid fever, you can get in touch with AccuHealth Diagnostics. At Accuhealth, you can get all diagnostic tests related to typhoid fever done at an affordable cost. We also have an expert panel of doctors at all our centers to guide you with your test results and with suggesting your further treatment plan.