Hello to all of our viewers. My name is Dr. Mandeep Singh. I am a senior consultant, Internal medicine. Mukat hospital and Heart institute, Chandigarh. Today I am going to discuss a very important topic. Today’s topic is typhoid fever. As We all know and heard about it, most people are scared of this fever. As most of the patients complain about suffering from this fever every year. So we need to understand how this fever happens? What are its symptoms? How can we cure it? When do we need to consult a doctor? We'll be discussing all these things today. Firstly, typhoid is a very common fever in our country, although it is quite uncommon in foreign countries. It is prevalent in India due to lack of cleanliness or improper sanitation as these two are the main reasons behind the spread of typhoid. First I'll talk about the symptoms of this fever. When a person comes in contact with this bacteria, then within 10 to 30 days he gets typhoid symptoms. So the name of the bacteria is Salmonella Typhi. The early sign and symptom of this bacteria is high grade fever. Fever in this case can reach up to 105 degrees and this can cause shivering, headaches, constipation or loose stools. The most common signs are high grade fever, body aches, fatigue, constipation, loose stools, lack of appetite. If anybody has these symptoms, then there is a possibility of typhoid as these are initial symptoms. Some people suffer from these symptoms but there are some people who suffer from second stage symptoms which are quite serious and patients can be at risk. In such a case a patient won't be able to move, he will not eat anything, either he is not able to talk or talks nonsense, then these signs indicate that the patient is in a serious stage of typhoid. So in this situation he immediately needs hospitalization. Now we will discuss, how does this fever happen? As I told you, this bacteria is known as salmonella typhi due to which this typhoid fever happens. So how does this bacteria spread? As we all know that corona spreads through breathing, coughing or sneezing but typhoid spreads through different ways, we call it Faucal oral transmission. So this bacteria secretes through a typhoid patient’s stool or urine. For example, a person who works in a restaurant has typhoid fever and if he doesn't take care of hygiene, then this person can spread typhoid through his dirty hands after coming in contact with another person. So we need to take care of our personal hygiene, cleanliness and toilets. We should avoid open bathrooms, though this system is less but still very common in India. It is very important to wash your hands with soap every time you use the toilet as this habit can lower the risk of infecting others. This is the only way to prevent this infection. So now let's talk about complications of this fever. The risk of complications is very high as we mostly start with home treatment by taking medications at home during the early stage of fever and this can delay our timely treatment. So when fever gets worse, this causes many complications. As we can see ulcers in the intestines, from where we can see bleeding or flow of blood through stools and if the blisters are large in size, then it can lead to a burst of intestine. Apart from this, this type of bacteria can spread infection in any part of the body. It can infect your brain, heart, blood vessels, chest and lungs. It can cause pancreatitis and can spread infection in most of the organs. It is very important to protect yourself as it is very difficult to come out of the complications, so prevention is very important. First and foremost is safe drinking water as we all use water purifiers. Those who cannot afford this, they should drink boiled water. Stop using open toilets and practice hand washing for at least 2 mins every time you use the toilet and clean your hands back , front and in between the fingers so that if there is any bacteria, then it can be removed properly. Second, avoid junk food, especially street food as there is a problem of hygienist. Water is not hygienic as we all know, how the dishes are being washed. Most of the people who eat from outside complain about loose motions. So this is not the major problem but if they get typhoid from there, then this can be a complicated problem. So make practice of eating hygienic food. Vaccination is another way to prevent the spread of this disease as vaccination is available in the regions, where it is very common. There are two types of vaccinations available, oral and injectable vaccinations and both are very effective but its effect lasts for a few days only as this vaccination is not effective for a long term. It varies from patient to patient as it might prove helpful for some patients till 1 year , 2 years or 5 year. This is not a permanent solution but it is a good way to prevent the patients in the regions, where there are the most number of cases. Thank you.

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