Essay On Typhoid Fever

Typhoid fever is a symptomatic disease caused by Salmonella Typhi. The bacteria generally responsible for the enteric fever syndrome is S enterica serotype Typhi (1). It is characterized by fever, red-colored rash, severe abdominal pain, and slow heart, beat. It concentrates on the intestine and the channel of infection (2). Typhoid fever is usually found in under-developed countries with poor sanitation (3). Statistics show that between seventeen and twenty-two million cases are reported and two hundred sixty thousand to six hundred thousand deaths occur each year (4). Typhoid fever mostly infects children and teenagers more than adults (5). It can be treated with antibiotics, however, resistance to common antimicrobials is widespread so many cases cannot be
treated completely or at all. In such cases, about one in ten patients experience complications, which usually develop during the second to third week of infection (6).
Symptoms vary from mild to severe due to several conditions such as the initiation of the appropriate therapy, age, the choice of antimicrobial therapy, previous exposure to the fever, and vaccination history. These symptoms usually begin to appear from one to three weeks after exposure. Symptoms include malaise, cough, small fever, headache, diarrhea, and red-colored spots on the chest, and magnified spleen and liver. (7) First of all, the main cause of Typhoid fever is the bacteria Salmonella typhi, which infects humans only. It is transmitted by the consumption of polluted food and water. In other words, transmission usually occurs through eating raw fruit and vegetables which are fertilized by human excreta. Additionally, it is easily transmitted through milk and other dairy products such as yogurt and cheese. In a like manner, transmission also occurs when a large number of people drink from the same source of water such as rivers, streams, and lakes. Moreover, flies may transmit the infection by carrying the bacteria, Salmonella typhi, from one person to another
(8). Therefore, if patients are not treated and if they’re ever exposed to such situations, complications may occur. The first complication that takes place due to improper treatment is internal bleeding in the digestive system. Although most internal bleeding is not life threatening or deadly, it can make people who suffer from Typhoid fever feel very unwell. Symptoms that pair this case are feeling tired all day, breathlessness, pale skin, irregular heartbeat (very fast and very slow heartbeat), vomiting (specially blood), and passing irregular stools. To treat this case temporarily, a blood transfusion may be essential to replace lost blood. In addition, an operation can be made to fix the site of bleeding in the digestive system. Types of complications aren’t only mild and easily treatable, some might lead to severe problems, then death. Perforation is another effect that occurs due to untreated cases of Typhoid fever, and it is potentially a very serious complication which occurs due to the movement of the bacteria Salmonella Typhi. This bacterium lives in a patient’s digestive system moving from one organ to another causing an infection in the lining of the abdomen and the peritoneum, which is why this case is also known as peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum). Peritonitis is a serious problem because it makes the digestive system’s tissues germ-free, which makes it lose its inbuilt immunity for fighting other infections. Additionally, in this case, infection can spread rapidly into the blood stream and other systems, and this leads to immediate death (6) First of all, physicians examine patients and select them upon local resistance patterns such as the patient’s age (whether oral medications are feasible or not), the clinical settings, and available resources. After that, it is convenience to begin with parenteral agents then complete the treatment with an oral drug once symptoms improve. The common fluoroquinolone to use is ciprofloxacin (5oo mg twice daily) or ofloxacin (400 mg twice daily). Thus, patients orally or parenterally take it for seven to ten days. After that, they have to take another dose of drug, which can be ampicillin, or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, or chloramphenicol. Some people can be resistant to this type of therapy. For example, people from South Asia cannot be treated with this therapy unless they follow several steps because they are more likely to be resistant to fluoroquinolone. First of all, they have to examine their resistance to fluoroquinolone. Then, demonstrate nalidixic acid sensitivity. After that, if the results show negative they can be treated with fluoroquinolones by taking ofloxacin for two, three, or five days. Additionally, physicians usually use a third generation method, which is giving their patients azithromycin, an empiric drug that is used while waiting for the results of the antimicrobial therapy. If the results show positive sign in resistance for fluoroquinolones, antifluoroquinolone resistant drugs are used. First, a beta-lactam such as ceftriaxone must be taken orally or parenterally for two to three grams once a day or 20mg/kg once day in two divided doses. After that, another drug must be taken which is azithromycin (five hundred grams once a day for five to seven days). Then, the final drug, chloramphenicol, is taken two to three grams once a day orally in divided doses for 14 days. Moreover, scientists proved that this method is considered more effective and rapid than the method used with people nonresistant to fluoroquinolones (9).To sum up, Typhoid Fever is a serious disease attacking people in small villages and undeveloped countries. To prevent this disease people must be educated about its symptoms, etiology, and types of treatment and its process of treating, which includes classifying the patient due to several patterns, examining patients to the resistance for fluoroquinolones, and finally the antimicrobial therapy. Although there are many ways to treat typhoid fever with fluoroquinolones, not all the types of this treatment are effective and popular. As a consequence, scientists and physicians are looking forward into coming up with more effective and comprehensive methods and treatments for this illness. Eventually, with prompt and proper treatment, almost all people who suffer from Typhoid fever in industrialized countries recover from this disease. However, without proper and adequate treatment, those patients may not survive the serious complications of the disease. Typhoid Fever strongly deserves to be focused on by researchers and scientists to provide new proper treatments to prevent any further problems.