One of the most dangerous infectious diseases is typhoid fever, the symptoms of which are usually characterized by confusion and hallucinations, which is the reason given by the name given by Hippocrates - the Greek word "typhos" means "fog". Before the invention of antibiotics, the disease caused large-scale epidemics, although now there is a risk of infection.
How is typhoid transmitted?
This infection is anthroponous, that is, it affects only the person. The causative agent of typhoid fever is the bacterium Salmonella typhi, which is a gram-negative rod.
The infection is transmitted by oral-fecal route, and it is possible to catch typhus through water, household items, food. Prerequisites for the spread of the bacterium is the watering of vegetables with water containing impurities; emergency condition of sewage and water supply systems. Sometimes the signs of typhoid fever are felt after bathing in a polluted water body or eating spoiled dairy products, in which all the bacteria multiply well, and even more so Salmonella typhi is a rather unpretentious microbe.
The sick person is almost not contagious in the first weeks (the incubation period), and the maximum infectiousness is reached at the 3rd week.
It should be noted that the bacterium is not afraid of the cold, but it dies at high temperatures: 20 - 30 minutes of boiling allow it to be completely destroyed.
How is typhoid fever manifested?
During the incubation period, which lasts an average of 2 weeks, some of the bacteria that enter the body die, releasing the so-called endotoxin. It causes intoxication. The patient complains about:
- loss of appetite;
- headache;
- weakness;
- cough;
- chills;
- stomach ache;
- constipation.
At the initial stage of the disease, which follows the incubation period and lasts 4 to 7 days, these symptoms of typhoid fever become particularly pronounced.
A characteristic sign of infection is a white and brown coating on the tongue with prints on it of teeth.
During the height of the disease (lasts up to 10 days), the above described clinical manifestations are supplemented by inhibition, weight loss, enlarged abdomen (palpation of the patient experiencing pain). Appears rash - with typhoid fever it is localized in the chest and abdomen, on the folds of the hands. It is a rose-colored pale pink color that becomes invisible when pressed.
When listening to the heart, bradycardia and deafness of the tones are revealed; The arterial pressure is lowered, the spleen and liver are enlarged in size. At the height of the disease there is a so-called. typhoid status - a person hallucinates, raves, his mind is confused.
Period of recovery
At the stage of the resolution of the disease, the symptoms of intoxication disappear, the temperature returns to normal (abruptly or gradually), the patient begins to have an appetite, weakness decreases, sleep normalizes.
Then comes recovery - the phase of convalescence, during which in 3-10% of cases the infection can begin to attack the body again. The first symptoms of relapse are subfebrile temperature, malaise, weakness.
It is worth noting that due to the widespread use of antibiotics, the disease is increasingly manifested in an erased form, in which the described symptoms are poorly expressed.
Diagnosis and complications
The disease is not subject to home treatment and requires hospitalization. Complications of typhoid fever are as follows:
- pneumonia;
- intestinal bleeding;
- peritonitis;
- cholecystitis ;
- typhoid psychosis;
- urinary tract infections.
If the patient is denied treatment, the probability of a lethal outcome is high.
Diagnosis of typhoid fever is the bacteriological examination of all body fluids. Usually a blood test for typhoid fever, as well as urine, feces, bile, implies sowing, the results of which become known after 1 to 4 days.