Q.Which disease is the patient suffering from who is showing symptoms such as sustained high fever (39°C to 40°C), stomach pain, constipation, headache, loss of appetite and weakness ? (A) Pneumonia (B) Malaria (C) Typhoid (D) Amoebiasis
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Sustained high fever (39–40°C), stomach pain, constipation, headache, loss of appetite and weakness are the hallmark symptoms of typhoid fever, caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi.
The question describes a clinical picture that points unmistakably toward a specific bacterial infection of the intestinal tract. Let's work through the symptom cluster and see why each option fits or fails.
Typhoid fever presents with a very characteristic pattern. The causative agent, Salmonella typhi, enters the body through contaminated food or water and invades the small intestine, eventually spreading into the bloodstream. This systemic infection produces a sustained high fever — typically in the range of 39°C to 40°C — that persists for weeks if untreated. Unlike the cyclical fever spikes of malaria, typhoid fever remains continuously elevated.
The gastrointestinal symptoms are equally telling. Patients experience stomach pain and, notably, constipation in the early stages (though diarrhoea may appear later). Headache, profound weakness, and loss of appetite round out the picture. The NCERT textbook explicitly lists these symptoms when describing typhoid.
Now consider the other options. Pneumonia is primarily a respiratory disease; its hallmark is cough, chest pain, and difficulty breathing — none of which appear in this symptom list. Malaria does cause high fever, but it follows a periodic pattern (fever spikes every 48 or 72 hours depending on the Plasmodium species), and the key symptoms are chills, sweating, and often an enlarged spleen — again, not matching what we see here. Amoebiasis, caused by Entamoeba histolytica, mainly produces abdominal pain and bloody diarrhoea (dysentery), not sustained high fever and constipation. …
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