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ASSIGNMENT

Unit tle: POPH62051 Communicable Disease Control

Topic Name - Typhoid: Causes, Preven on and Control

Typhoid is a serious public health challenge for throughout the globe and the goal of this
assignment is to point out the research work of the life threa ng disease Typhoid in India, to
study the nature, epidemiology, disease career, and its preven on and control of the disease.
It also explains the significant health, social, and economic issues linked to this disease.

What is typhoid

Typhoid is life threa ng vehicle borne infec on. It is mostly occurred due to the occurrences
of bacteria called Salmonella, specifically the typhi subspecies. There are other related
bacteria known as Salmonella Para typhi A, B, or C, which can lead to a similar illness called
paratyphoid fever. This infec on is contagious and o en spreads to people when they
consume adulterated food or water. It can also spread due to poor unhygienic condi ons. And
once salmonella typhi bacteria enter inside the body it mul ple into numbers of the bacteria
and spread into the bloodstream, (usually within 4 to 6 hours symptoms are visible).

Salmonellosis is very infec ous disease which

cause the headache fever, Liver Enlargement,
Vomi ng and Intes nal Inflamma ons and
Diarrhoea and it is drive by a bacterium from
salmonella group, it consists of two main
triggering microbial species are Salmonella
bongori and Salmonella enterica, (Subsp. I
enterica, 1547) which gives rise to typhoid.

Presently, this contagious disease affects more than three million individuals worldwide, and
claiming over millions lives. As per the na onal survey report in India from the hospital
surveillance of April 2023 the typhoid pa ents are ranged from 25 to 1700 cases per thousand
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child-years among children between the ages of 7 months and 15 years and from 125 to 900
cases per thousand person-years among those who were 17 years of age or older, with the
fatality rate of 0.2%.

Typhoid: Causes

The main source of the typhoid fever is salmonellosis bacteria and which is present in form
bacteria in the adulterated water and food, which gets incorporated into food, while
processing raw meat, seafood, poultry, eggs as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. And this
bacteria spreads only through human carriers and is transmi ed from P2P that is (person to
person) due to direct contact with the faeces of an infected person. When a healthy person
consumes invasion food or water, then the bacteria enter through the mouth and stays in the
intes nes for a few weeks and mul plies in the lymphoid ssue. Then, the ac ve bacterium
usually comes out of the intes nal walls and enters the bloodstream and causes bacteraemia.
Through the bloodstream, the bacteria spread onto other ssues and organs and finally wreak
havoc within the body. There, they mul ply and re-enter the blood cells, which in turn, causes
several symptoms to appear in the later stages.
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The typical sign of the typhoid fever is usually developed in 2-3 weeks a er person get contact
with the bacteria. The person who tested posi ve with typhoid fever usually display the
following symptoms it includes prolonged high fever, body ache, serve headache, nausea,
abdominal pain, and cons pa on or diarrhoea. Few pa ents have complained about that they
may have a rash. And some Severe cases may lead to serious complica ons of the disease or
even lead towards death. And the stated symptoms may last up to 2-7 days and in some serve
cases it can last longer 15 days or more, depends upon the person-to-person immune system
and their lifestyles.
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And if the typhoid symptoms are not taken into the mely serious considera on, which lead
bacteria to mul ply into several numbers and which lead towards the lifelong infec ous
diseases or it may lead towards the life loss. And these symptoms are classified into the
following:

Delirium Hallucinations
infection infection

Meningitis Pneumonia

Pancreatitis Paranoid
infection Psychosis

Kidney/Bladder Endocarditis
infection symptoms infection

Typhoid Diagnosis

To diagnose typhoid fever, medical prac oners have a wide range of tests at their disposal,
like stool cultures and bone marrow tests. One of these tests is the Widal test, which helps
iden fy an bodies that your body produces when it is figh ng off salmonella bacteria during
a typhoid infec on.

Here is a the Widal test principle: When you eat food with salmonella bacteria, these harmful
germs enter your body and trigger your immune system. In response, your body makes special
proteins called an bodies to fight the salmonella. This immune response causes the
salmonella bacteria to clump together, and this clumping is a sign that you may have typhoid
fever.

The Widal test has its drawbacks:

 It might give a posi ve result even if you had a vaccine or previous infec on, leading
to false alarms.
 It takes me to provide results, which could delay your treatment.
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 It cannot tell if you have a current infec on, a past one, or if you have been vaccinated
against S. Typhi.
 It might wrongly show a posi ve result if you have certain other health condi ons.

So, it is not a good idea to rely solely on the Widal test for figuring out if you have typhoid.
Hence Preven on and Control on this disease plays an important role.

Treatment Process

Treatment for typhoid fever is typically involves an bio c therapy, which is the most effec ve
approach. The choice of an bio cs can depend on seriousness of the symptoms and person
immune and bodies respond to the an bodies, allergies to the certain type of the drugs as
different strains may respond differently to certain medica ons. The following an bio cs are
commonly prescribed for typhoid fever:

 Fluoroquinolones
 Cephalosporins
 Macrolides
 Carbapenems

And the treatment is not only limited to the an bio c medicines, there are other ways to
tackle the typhoid fever, in general the following prac ses are into use namely,

Drinking plenty of fluids which keeps the body hydrated, body got dehydrated due to long
fever and medicines.

Surgery method, is intes ne got damaged, doctor may prescribe the surgery of it.
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Food to take and to avoid

Typhoid: Preven on and Control

Preven ng the typhoid fever includes the following measures to reduce the exposure of the
bacteria that cause typhoid fever and infec on, here are some ways explain in the illustra on
that an individual can take to prevent from the typhoid fever and infec ons.

1.1 Typhoid: Preven ons Tips

1. Vaccina on: This is one of the most important factors to control the thyroid fever, and
its infec on. There are two types vaccines is available in the market, one is to kill the
virus and other one is boos ng the immunity of the person. This prac ce can be
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achieved by running campaigns, and educa ng the peoples about the importance of
the vaccine.

Example: This can be achieved by the government driven vaccina on campaign

throughout the na on at paid or non-paid services. And distribu ons of the
educa onal material about the vaccine.

2. Clean Water: Typhoid and other infec ous disease are o en spread by the
contaminated water; this is one of the most important sources which increase the
chances of the ge ng infected. To tackle these municipali es and other local
representa ve should be make sure, there is no water logging, and tap water should
be clean, proper cleaning and bleaching of water.

Example: An individual can drink packed drinking water or take water that has been
boiled or treated with chlorine or iodine tablets.

Government should supply tap water to every individual house, and it should be easy to
access.

3. Hand Hygiene: This is very vital prac ce to wash your hands on a regular interval, to
keep hand bacteria, virus, and dirt free. Must keep regular washing your hands with
soap and water is essential in preventing the spread of typhoid bacteria and it is not
limited the typhoid it kills other germs and virus which can affect your immune system
very badly.

Example: An individual should wash your hands regularly, especially before and after
eating or handling food or cooking, or touching the mouth or eyes, or any body part from
where bacteria can be transmitted.

4. Proper Food Handling: This is one of the most prime preven on prac ces that very
individual, commercials offices, restaurant must have to follow a proper hygiene
prac se in day-to-day prac ce.

Example: Washing of the utensils, hand and proper sani sa ons of the kitchen or
cooking area and food storage area, to keep germ and bacteria free space.
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5. Travel Precau ons: Before travelling to any place, an individual should have to check
about the surrounding weather that place or country is safe, you can check at
government websites, local newspapers

Example: if you are travelling to an area where typhoid fever or any kind of virus is highly
active or common, take extra precautions to prevent infection (wearing mask, hand
sanitiser, precautionary medicines). And commonly healthy practice is only consuming the
food and beverages that are known to be safe, and checking the expiry date and must
washing hands frequently, practice to use of hand sanitiser and getting vaccinated before
travel.

6. Sanita on: A er covid the sanita on process again comes into limelight, which was
avoided across the na on from the prolonged period. This is one the most important
factor to keep safe all person, from infec ous disease like water borne disease, sexually
transmi ed disease, and other skin infec on related disease.

Example: This prac se can be achieved by proper sanita on of the public toilets, public
transport, malls, and hospitals.

Sanita on of the road, and pest control of the colonies, society.

7. Organic Vegetables: This is one of the healthy prac ses to eat more organic food, as
in current situa ons due to high volume demand of the veggie’s farmers are most likely
to use pes cides to increase the volume of the produc on at the short span of the
me.

Example: Try to eat more fresh and organic vegetables, avoid longer storage of the
veggies, and say no to frozen veggies.

8. Proper Food Cooking: Typhoid fever is o en spread by ea ng contaminated food, all

individual kitchens and restaurants must have to follow the proper food hygiene’s and
safety of the food.

Example: Before cooking of food, it must be properly washed with boiled water, and
for packed food check the expiry dates before using of it. And must make sure the food
must be properly cooked. And avoid ea ng raw food.
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1.2 Typhoid: Control Tips

Case Detection &

Tips

Typhoid Control Tips

Isolation

Disinfection of
Stool and Urine
Water and Food
Sanitisation

Immunization

Health Education

The control process of the typhoid fever and its infec ous bacteria can be controlled by a
above men oned key points, in order to know how we can process the control technique here
is a illustra on to define how these control measures can be apply in day-to-day prac ce which
will be beneficial for the every ci zen life’s not only in India, but it can help to cater the
worldwide typhoid concerns.

Example

To control typhoid fever, we need to take a well-rounded approach and control methods those
are men oned in the above representa on. Firstly, it is very crucial and important to iden fy
people who show symptoms of the disease and that individual might be carriers of the
bacteria and other viruses. Once medical prac oner finds them, they need to put them in a
separate area or in an isola on ward to prevent the disease from spreading to others who
have weaken immune system or any other individual’s

Hospitals, Clinics, and other health care place are also need to make sure everything stays
clean and hygienic, especially the isola on ward and restroom which pa ent uses. We aim to
provide these pa ents with fresh or organic vegies, and properly cooked food and clean
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drinking water, is important for their recovery phase. They should also receive their
medica ons and vaccina ons immuniza on on me, and we will keep a close eye on their
health records to see how they are doing and maintaining their health record is very important
for the future prospec ve.

Educa on is likely the most important key for preven ng typhoid fever. Health Workers,
Government associates, educa onal ins tutes like school, collages must have to teach the
common peoples about the typhoid like what to do and what not to do while they are dealing
with the illness, diet plans, how to prevent it, and how to control it from widely spread
infec ous diseases. Pa ent or every individual will also learn from the health care associates
or from nutri onist about the importance of ea ng a balanced diet and ge ng regular
exercise to help them get be er and this will lead towards the development of be er immune
system.

Conclusion & Way Forward

The whole approach to tackle the disease burden followed by a measure such as regularly
washing hands, drinking clean water, sani sa on and maintaining the personal hygiene, and
prompt consulta on with health care workers, while seeing any of the symptoms of the
typhoid fever, and taking the effec vely control and manage the virus infec on. These
approaches will work with the involvements of everyone not only limited any one na on, this
approach must be followed at global level and taking above stated preven on and control
preven ve measures must been adop ng properly and this way we can significantly able to
reduce the risk of contrac ng typhoid fever and other viral infec on, data recording of the
pa ents will play the crucial significance to tackle the typhoid fever, when it is outbreak into
mass individuals.
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List of References

BYJUS. (n.d.). Typhoid - Discover the Causes, Symptoms, Diagram And its Cure. [online]
Available at: https://byjus.com/biology/typhoid/#what-is-typhoid? [Accessed 4 Nov. 2023].

Netmeds. (n.d.). Salmonellosis: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment. [online]

Available at: https://www.netmeds.com/health-library/post/salmonellosis-causes-
symptoms-and-treatment?utm_source=Blog-
Post&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=NMSBlogPost [Accessed 4 Nov. 2023].

Netmeds. (n.d.). Typhoid: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment. [online]

Available at: https://www.netmeds.com/health-library/post/typhoid-causes-symptoms-and-
treatment.

OUP accepted manuscript. (2021). The Journal of Infectious Diseases. [online] doi:
https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiab187.

John, J., Van Aart, C.J.C. and Grassly, N.C. (2016). The Burden of Typhoid and Paratyphoid in
India: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, [online] 10(4).
doi:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004616.

www.metropolisindia.com. (n.d.). Widal Test - Introduction, Principle and Procedure |

Metropolis. [online]
Available at: https://www.metropolisindia.com/blog/health-wellness/widal-test-
introduction-principle-procedure-preparation-
price#:~:text=Limitations%20of%20Widal%20Test&text=A%20widal%20test%20can%20not.

Anon, (2023). Typhoid Fever: Causes, Symptoms & Diagnosis - Dr Lal PathLabs Blog. [online]
Available at: https://www.lalpathlabs.com/blog/typhoid-fever/ [Accessed 4 Nov. 2023].