Typhoid Fever Symptoms
Typhoid is a chapter in the NCERT Science Books, classified under the Health and Wellness module. This segment deals with typhoid as a disease, signs and symptoms of typhoid, causes of typhoid, and how to get typhoid treated. Students are suggested to refer to the resource material from the official website of Vedantu for a better understanding of the subject as well as taking precautionary measures for better health in the future.
What is Typhoid?
Typhoid is a contagious disease that spreads through contaminated water and food. It is an infectious disease regarding bacteria that spreads through the body and affects several organs of the body. It is an illness related to fever. The type of bacteria that causes typhoid is originally known as Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi bacteria. It comes in the form of high fever, reaching upto 104° F and is sustained fever, which means it does not increase or decrease the temperature easily and stays constant for a long while.
Signs of Typhoid
Typhoid is a type of fever, so it generally affects the outer factors. The major signs of typhoid fever are headache, constipation or diarrhoea, stomach ache, and high temperature, which is typically high fever. The infected tend to have a poor appetite as well, along with feeling lethargic and generally in pains and aches. Other signs shown are also dry cough, sweating profusely, muscle aches and rash. Discomfort is the most found symptom in all the infected. These are the initial indications of the disease.
When typhoid completely sets it, it is evident by two major signs. Firstly, without treatment, the infected may get delirious and unable to handle themselves. Secondly, the infected might lie without motion and remain exhausted for a longer duration of time.
If you see these signs in someone, immediately call an adult and consult a specialist in this field.
Causes of Typhoid
There are two causes of typhoid. Firstly, the contaminated water and food supply. The ingestion of polluted water and food infect the consumer. Secondly, the carriers of the disease. Staying in contact with someone who is affected with typhoid results in the fever being transmitted to another person.
Treatment of Typhoid
Typhoid can be effectively treated through the usage of antibiotics. Antibiotics are designed to demolish the bacterias that carry the disease Antibiotics, with the assistance of care and support, guarantee the disease to be destroyed.
FAQs on Symptoms of Typhoid
1. What are the symptoms of typhoid? State the symptoms of typhoid in detail.
The following is a list of all the signs of typhoid fever.
High fever
Severe headache
Chills
Ulcers
Sweating
Weakness
Dehydration
Skin Rashes
Constipation
Muscle aches
Stomach pain
Weight loss
Loss of appetite
Delirium or hallucinations
Extremely swollen abdomen
Rarely, the symptoms might also include confusion, diarrhoea, and vomiting, however, this is not normally severe.
In the serious and untreated cases, the bowel can also become perforated. This can eventually lead to peritonitis, which is an infection of the tissue which lines the inside of the abdomen, that has been reported as fatal in between 5 and 62 per cent of the cases.
2. Is there any vaccine for typhoid fever?
A vaccine is highly recommended if you are living in or you are travelling to areas where the risk of getting typhoid fever is very high. Two vaccines are available as of now for typhoid prevention.
One vaccine is injected in a single dose at least one in a week before travel.
One vaccine is given orally as four capsules, with one capsule having to be taken every other day.
Neither of these vaccines is 100 percent effective and both require repeated immunizations since vaccine effectiveness diminishes over time.
Since the vaccine will not provide you with complete protection, follow the following guidelines when you are travelling to the high-risk areas:
Wash your hands. Frequently hand-washing in hot and soapy water is the best way to control the infection. Wash your hands before eating or preparing the food and especially after using the toilet. Carry an alcohol-based hand sanitizer for the times whenever water isn't easily available.
Avoid drinking contaminated and untreated water. Contaminated drinking water is a major problem in the areas wherein the typhoid fever is endemic. For this reason, drink only the bottled water and the canned or bottled carbonated beverages, and even wine and beer. The carbonated bottled water is much safer than the non carbonated bottled water is.
Ask for the drinks that are without ice. Use the bottled water to even brush your teeth, and try not to swallow the water in the shower.
Avoid having raw fruits and vegetables. Since the raw produced fruits and veggies may have been washed in the unsafe water, avoid having the fruits and vegetables which you cannot peel, especially the lettuce. To be extremely safe, you might want to avoid having the raw foods entirely.
Choose consuming hot foods. Avoid consuming food that is stored or is served at the room temperature. Having steaming hot foods is the best. Although there is no guarantee that the meals that are served at the finest restaurants are safe, it is best to avoid the food from the street vendors since it is more likely to be contaminated.
3. How can I prevent typhoid fever?
Since typhoid fever is a contagious disease, it spreads mainly during travel. The risk is the highest when the travellers are untreated and careless. But fortunately, typhoid can be prevented by following a few simple and effective tips. but it can be prevented when precautionary methods are used and close attention is paid to detail. Here are some tips that can be followed and adopted for the prevention of typhoid.
Keep a habit of washing hands. Hands are the most actively used and visible parts of the body and therefore are more usual means and prone to housing contagious diseases. Using warm water along with soap proves best to control the infection.
Adopt a habit of drinking pure water. Untreated and impure water is the main source of infection. Drink only bottled water or water from sources you are sure are treated and purified completely.
Avoid raw eatables to confirm the prevention of typhoid. Also, avoid foods that are served at room temperature. Always choose hot foods as they have no chance of standing for the fever.
It is imperative that the typhoid disease does not infect those who take good care by taking precautionary methods and paying close attention to themselves and others.
4. How should I learn about typhoid to write in exams?
To easily crack the chapter on typhoid in exams, students are recommended to take notes whenever possible and review them for easy recalling, leading to perfect memorization. This guarantees the perfect score in exams for this subject matter.
5. How to prevent infecting others with typhoid fever?
Typhoid is contagious, therefore, care should be taken to prevent the disease from infecting others. If you are certain you have the disease and are recovering, here are some steps which should be followed to stop the disease from transporting from one person to another:
Antibiotics should be used: Antibiotics have the required contents that destroy the components which are harmful to the body, so following the prescription and attending to every antibiotic will prevent the infection from travelling.
Washing hands: Hands are one of the most exposed of all the body parts, therefore they should be clean and free of bacteria so that they cannot become carriers of the disease.
Keeping away from food management: Since food is one of the major means of transportation of typhoid, simply avoiding the handling of the food particularly helps in preventing the travel of the disease.
Taking proper vaccines: Prescribed vaccinations are aids in cases of prevention of typhoid disease.
