TYPHOID – PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE

What is Typhoid Fever?

One of the few diseases inflicting India right now ~one of those diseases that Kill! And yet there are only a mere number of people who have sufficient knowledge about this particular illness. Why is knowing about this important? With the rising spread of typhoid fever all over the country, Awareness is the need of the hour!

Causes of Typhoid:-

To begin with, the most asked question anyone would have regarding this, how is typhoid caused? To originally answer that, Typhoid is caused by the strain of bacteria called salmonella typhimurium. Yes, it is a bacterial disease. But this isn’t the only bacteria responsible for this acute illness; it can also be caused by the Salmonella paratyphoid. Now the question arises, How does this bacteria spread? The answer is simple, through contaminated food and water.

How Typhoid is treated?

Typhoid requires immediate treatment with antibiotics and the convalescence is prolonged for a time. If diagnosed in its early stages, it is likely that the infection is mild and usually can be treated for 7 -14 days. Symptoms should start to improve already within 48-72 hours after initiation of therapy, but it is still important to bring to term care, according to the medical indications. The most severe cases of typhoid fever require hospitalization and administration of antibiotics and fluids intravenously. Hospitalization is usually recommended if the patient complains of persistent vomiting, bloated abdomen, and severe diarrhoea.
Ciprofloxacin is the most frequently used medicine, while ceftriaxone, is an alternative for patients in pregnancy. Other antibiotics that can be prescribed are ampicillin and trimethoprim / sulfamethoxazole.

Typhoid at the initial stage can be easily treated with antibiotics but can prove to be fatal when not treated beforehand. That’s exactly why awareness is important. Now that you know how it is caused, moving on to the major part, Awareness about the symptoms and treatment.

This is one disease that is easily communicable, spreading the bacteria from one person to another usually through faeces and rarely, through urine. There is an outbreak of this disease usually in countries with poor sanitation and hygiene. The more the hygiene is properly maintained, the lower the risks of being inflicted by the typhoid fever. That is why cleanliness and sanitation is best way of preventing such a disease. 

A Small Survey:-

A survey by the World health organization suggests that over 216,000 deaths are caused worldwide, every year caused by typhoid. Only if better treatment facilities and awareness was to be provided, Maybe the death rate wouldn’t have been this high.

Symptoms:-

The major symptoms of this disease are a few. Firstly, Fever reaching up to 39degree to about 40 degree that happens to be one of the first major symptom. Moving on to the second noticed symptom, Headache and muscle pain, if a person is going through regular headache accompanied by unbearable muscle pain, The chances are high that its likely due to typhoid fever. The other two most noticeable symptoms are that of abdominal bloating or what the layman would term as “Extreme Tummy ache”, accompanied by nausea that is throwing up, constipation and diarrhoea.

If you or anyone you know tends to face all of these symptoms, there is estimated chance that he/she is suffering from the typhoid fever as these are considered to be the symptoms likely to occur.

Now that you know about identifying the disease, the next major step is treating it. Typhoid when discovered early, as mentioned before, can be cured quickly with a simpler course of antibiotics.

However when discovered after a certain period of time, typhoid is diagnosed by laboratory tests, one of the most reliable tests includes the IDL tubex test which can quickly analyze the antibodies against the infection. There is also a typhoid test which can detect the infection within a span of 3 hours.

But as the title itself suggests, haven’t we always heard that prevention is better than cure? Having said that, one can easily prevent the infection by maintaining established sanitation as well as hygiene. Clean drinking water is the key to avoid the spread of typhoid fever. Furthermore, there are 2 vaccines available for typhoid in case you are travelling to countries where the disease is widespread.

Now that reading this has created enough awareness around you, Think about the millions lives you can save by letting the rest know about this one killer disease as well? Apprehension and consciousness is the need of the hour. Spread the word. Secure health. Save lives.