Typhoid fever is a life-threatening infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. It is usually spread through contaminated food or water. Once Salmonella Typhi bacteria are ingested, they multiply and spread into the bloodstream.
Urbanization and climate change have the potential to increase the global burden of typhoid. In addition, increasing resistance to antibiotic treatment is making it easier for typhoid to spread in communities that lack access to safe drinking water or adequate sanitation.
Symptoms
Salmonella Typhi lives only in humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract. Symptoms include prolonged high fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, abdominal pain, and constipation or diarrhoea. Some patients may have a rash. Severe cases may lead to serious complications or even death. Typhoid fever can be confirmed through blood testing.
Epidemiology, risk factors and disease burden
Improved living conditions and the introduction of antibiotics resulted in a drastic reduction of typhoid fever morbidity and mortality in industrialized countries. However, the disease continues to be a public health problem in many developing areas of the WHO African, Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions.
As of 2019 estimates, there are 9 million cases of typhoid fever annually, resulting in about 110 000 deaths per year.
Typhoid risk is higher in populations that lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation, and children are at highest risk.
Treatment
Typhoid fever can be treated with antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance is common with likelihood of more complicated and expensive treatment options required in the most affected regions.
Even when the symptoms go away, people may still be carrying typhoid bacteria, meaning they can spread it to others, through shedding of bacteria in their faeces.
It is important for people being treated for typhoid fever to do the following:
- Take prescribed antibiotics for as long as the doctor has prescribed.
- Wash their hands with soap and water after using the bathroom and avoid preparing or serving food for other people. This will lower the chance of passing the infection on to someone else.
- Have their doctor test to ensure that no Salmonella Typhi bacteria remain in their body.
