Typhoid – Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment

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7 years ago

Typhoid is a type of infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhimurium (S&period;typhi) which lives in the bloodstream and intestines of humans&period; The disease is mainly spread due to direct contact/intake of contaminated consumables&period; Since no animals carry the disease, transmission is mostly from person to person&period; If left untreated, typhoid can, at times turn out to be fatal&period; S&period;typhi attacks the immune system of the host in a way making it weak to fight off infections&period; &NewLine;Although it is contacted by consuming contaminated food and water, people suffering from acute illness can also contaminate the surrounding water supply through stool where a significant concentration of this bacteria can be found&period; Signs and symptoms of the disease usually develop gradually and become prominent only after one to three weeks of exposure to the disease&period; Here are some of the early symptoms&semi; you need to be aware of-&NewLine;<h2 style="text-align&colon; justify">Early Illness</h2>&NewLine;ï· Fever that goes from low to high almost everyday&period;&NewLine;ï· Weakness and fatigue&NewLine;ï· Sweating&NewLine;ï· Dry cough&NewLine;ï· Loss of appetite and weight loss&NewLine;<ul style="text-align&colon; justify">&NewLine;<li style="font-weight&colon; 400">Abdominal pain</li>&NewLine;</ul>&NewLine;ï· Rash&NewLine;ï· Diarrhea or constipation&NewLine;<ul style="text-align&colon; justify">&NewLine;<li style="font-weight&colon; 400">Extremely swollen abdomen</li>&NewLine;</ul>&NewLine;ï· Muscle aches&NewLine;ï· Headache&NewLine;<h2 style="text-align&colon; justify">Later Illness</h2>&NewLine;If you ignore the problem and do not seek treatment immediately, the following symptoms might occur-&NewLine;ï· Lie motionless and exhausted with your eyes half-closed in what&&num;8217&semi;s known as the typhoid state&NewLine;<ul style="text-align&colon; justify">&NewLine;<li style="font-weight&colon; 400">Become delirious</li>&NewLine;</ul>&NewLine;In addition, life-threatening complications can also develop during this time&period;&NewLine;In some situations, signs and symptoms may return after two weeks after the fever has subsided&period;&NewLine;Diagnosis&NewLine;The most common methods used for the diagnosis of typhoid include bone marrow, blood, urine or stool culture tests&period; A Widal test is also conducted to confirm the same&period; The samples are usually examined under a microscope to detect the presence of salmonella typhi bacteria&period; The Widal test apart from being time-consuming can also yield false positives&period; Hence, a person might be asked to undergo a series of tests if the presence of bacteria is not detected the first time&period; Hence, a more accurate way is to test the bone marrow sample&period; Since it takes time and is also painful&semi; this isn’t the most preferred option and is conducted only if the results are inconclusive&period; In case of confirmation of the disease, other family members also might need to be tested for possible signs of infection&period;&NewLine;Apart from the Widal test, a Typhidot test is also conducted at times&period; This involves the use of dot ELISA kit to detect IgM and IgG antibodies&period; It takes two days to confirm the results using this test&period;&NewLine;Although you must always trust the lab tests, keeping basic medical equipment at home is always recommended&period; The current Littmann Classic III prices are quite affordable, making the stethoscope much desirable for monitoring heart rate at home&period; &NewLine;Treatment&NewLine;If the diagnosis takes place during the early stages, a course of antibiotics is usually recommended&period; These are usually taken from 7 to 14 days&period; Some strains of the bacteria are resistant to such antibiotics&period; Hence, the type of strain you are infected with is usually diagnosed&period; Following are the some of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics-&NewLine;ï· Ciprofloxacin- This is prescribed to non-pregnant adults&period; A drug called ofloxacin can also be used in its place&period;&NewLine;ï· Azithromycin&&num;8211&semi; If the bacteria is resistant to ciprofloxacin, this is usually recommended&period;&NewLine;ï· Ceftriaxone&&num;8211&semi; This is an injectable antibiotic and is recommended under more serious situations or children who cannot intake ciprofloxacin&period; It is always a better idea to buy a box rather than pay individual Dispo van syringe price every time you need to inject the medicine&period;&NewLine;These drugs can cause certain side-effects and are not recommended for long-term use&period;&NewLine;<h2 style="text-align&colon; justify">Other Treatments-</h2>&NewLine;ï· Drinking Fluids- Drinking fluids can help prevent dehydration which is quite common in case of diarrhea or prolonged fever&period; In case of severe dehydration, an intravenous supply of fluids might be necessary&period;&NewLine;ï· Surgery- A surgery might be required in case of intestines which have become perforated&period;&NewLine;<h2 style="text-align&colon; justify">Relapses-</h2>&NewLine;Some people, even after completion of treatment face a relapse and experience a return of symptoms&period; This usually occurs within a week after antibiotic treatment has finished&period; Although the symptoms during relapse are usually milder and do not last too long, a further antibiotic treatment is still required&period; You must see your doctor as soon as spot any return of symptoms&period;&NewLine;For buying any type of medical equipment, Smart Medical Buyer is the website you can always trust and rely upon&period; With best quality guarantee and reasonable price, SMB is your one-stop destination for all kinds of medical equipment supplies&period;&NewLine;