TYPHOID IS DEADLIER THAN YOU THINK

Typhoid fever, also known as salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, is a deadly infection that has taken the life of many people you know and some notable people you also know but never knew what killed them. i ll blow your mind- if you remember the Wright brothers, the one known as Wilbur Wright [inventors of what we know today as the airplane was killed by typhoid. The greek empire’s alexander the Great was killed by typhoid. if we decide to come home, famous comedian, orator,philanthropist Gbenga Adeboye was diagnosed of Typhoid after it has damaged other main organs in his body.

Worldwide typhoid fever affects roughly 17 million people annually, causing the deaths of over 600,000. Note that these deaths occur mostly in developing countries. In developed countries, the infection has been effectively eradicated, in the  united states in 2006 there were only 266 cases, and 70% of that number have been to Asia, Africa or the middle east.

For starters, i m going  to discuss what salmonella typhi is in layman’s term in this first article. In subsequent articles, i will explain how it is contacted then the symptoms, how differentials are done, then how to treat. the final article will be how to avoid this infection. So lets move!

what is typhoid?

Ttyphoid fever is a life threatening disease caused by an infection caused by a bacteria called Samonella Typhi. This infection affects the intestinal tract, then secondarily it can pass to the spleen, liver, bone marrow etc if not treated.

This infection affects the body in two  stages- stage i, ii

Stage i- Incubation period- This stage the carrier  feels no symptom. At this stage it is already in the intestinal tract

stage ii: At this stage the person becomes symptomatic. the first set of symptoms appear. They include: lingering headaches, body aches, high temperature. General symptoms of malaria. If untreated, it ll keep occurring for two to three days till the fever becomes high with temperature ranging from 39 degrees to 42 degrees. Then abdominal discomfort in the form of constipation which will result in inability to pass stool to diarrhea, it can also result in intestinal bleeding.

One thing that should be in our mind is that typhoid carries the same symptoms as some other infections and diseases. Such as malaria, meningitis. So the only ways one can be sure of what it is is through medical tests using blood samples, stool cultures, urine samples.

In the next article, we ll discuss  how differentials {diagnosis}  are done, then how to treat. the final article will be how to avoid this infection. So lets move!

Feel free to comment or ask questions.