Typhoid fever
Find out about typhoid fever, the prevention and treatment methods.
About
Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by a specific type of bacteria that lives only in humans.
You can get typhoid fever if sewerage contaminated with the bacteria gets into the water you drink or use for washing food, or if you eat food that has been handled by a person who is a carrier of the bacteria.
Symptoms
Once the bacteria is ingested, it multiplies and spreads into the bloodstream.
The body reacts with:
- Abdominal pain/cramps
- Constipation or diarrhoea
- Fever
- Headaches
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Weakness
- A rash of flat, rose-coloured spots on the chest, stomach and back (in some cases).
Please note
Even if your symptoms seem to go away, you may still be carrying the bacteria
Salmonella Typhi. If so, the illness could return, or you could pass it to other people.
Treatment
There are very effective antibiotics to treat typhoid fever. If you have any of these symptoms, visit your nearest doctor, clinic or hospital immediately.
If you are being treated for typhoid fever, remember:
- Do not prepare or serve food for other people. This will lower the chance that you will pass the infection to someone else.
- Keep taking the prescribed antibiotics for as long as the doctor/nurse has asked you to take them.
- If you work as a food handler or care for small children, you may only resume those duties after a doctor has determined that you no longer carry any typhoid bacteria.
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after using the bathroom – keeping in mind not to let the tap run while soaping your hands.
Please note
If you have diarrhoea, replace the lost fluids with an
oral rehydration/sugar and salt solution.
1. Boil one litre of water and allow it to cool.
2. Add eight level teaspoons of sugar and a half a teaspoon of salt and stir well.
-
Adults: drink the solution regularly throughout the diarrhoea infection period.
-
Children over the age of two years: 125 ml – 250 ml of solution after every watery stool.
-
Children under the age of two years: 60 ml – 125 ml of solution after each watery stool (feed one teaspoon every 2 minutes).
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