Typhoid is a growing concern in developing countries like India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Jamaica,Uganda, etc. where poor sanitation efforts lead to ignorance towards health and hygiene. The infection iscaused bySalmonella typhi bacterium and spreads through contaminated edibles and water (fecal-oral route) and where hand washing is not so frequent.
Typhoid usually can be detected by CBC test and blood culture when done in the first week of fever. Typhoid canusuallylast from a week to fifteen days but takes longer for a patient to recover from the weakness it causes. Typhoid, when caught early, can be treated by proper medical treatment with a course of antibiotics, but if ignored or not treated timely can be fatal as well.
Evident symptoms of typhoid infection include high fever sometimes cyclic fever also, headache, stomach ache, weakness, vomiting, and loose motion. Vaccines are highly recommendable in the geographical regions wheretyphoid is a common problem. However, other precautions are also helpful in preventing infection. Some of these precautions are –
- Use only RO purified water for drinking purposes. If you must use tap water, make sure toboil it before consuming. If you rely upon bottled water for relevant health and hygienecustody, always check if it is sealed and avoid brands you don’t identify with. Carbonatedwater is always preferable over the uncarbonated alternative.
- Avoid popsicles or other flavored ice desserts. When you prepare ice at home, boil the water before freezing it.
- Wash off fruits and vegetables thoroughly before consuming. Do not munch on the peels,and avoid eating raw fruits when not treated. Putting fruits in a tub of water and baking soda helps get rid of pesticides and common bacterias.
- Avoid fruitsand vegetables like lettuce, which is relatively difficult to clean up, as the chance ofcontamination mounts up this way.
- Avoid street food and unhygienic places. Try to carry home-cooked meals or try to stick to hygienically packed healthy snacks or biscuits etc.
- Wash your hands frequently throughout the day. Use soap and warm water as much possible. In the absence of hot water, use Dettol handsanitizers, which turn out to be a good substitute.
- Avoid serving yourself room temperature food. Steaming hot is the temperature you want tostick to, as a primary stride in the direction of better health and hygiene.
- Raw or undercooked food is a total restraint. Consume only the type of food that isthoroughly cooked.
- Teeth should be washed only by boiled/ bottled/ RO water and shower water shouldn’t besw allowed, not even mistakenly.
Also, it is important to note that some individuals carry the bacterium without any discerniblesymptoms of typhoid, which is why taking abovementioned precautions is extremely crucial foreveryone. Symptoms of typhoid if treated with ignorance, can even turn out to be fatal. If, by anychance, you encounter any of the early signs, immediately see the doctor and turn to yourantibiotics.
