Q.Write a short note on typhoid fever, mentioning its pathogen, symptoms and prophylaxis.

[!TLDR] Typhoid fever is a Salmonella typhi infection spread via contaminated food/water, prevented through sanitation.

Typhoid fever is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, spreading via the faecal-oral route through contaminated food and water. It causes sustained high fever, weakness, abdominal pain and altered bowel habit. Prophylaxis includes safe water, sewage disposal, food hygiene, and vaccination …

Typhoid fever is a systemic bacterial infection caused by Salmonella typhi, a rod-shaped bacterium. It spreads through the faecal-oral route, chiefly via food and water that has been contaminated with the faeces or urine of an infected person or an asymptomatic carrier, so it is closely linked to the general standard of community sanitation. Its symptoms include a sustained, high, step-ladder-pattern fever, general weakness and fatigue, headache, abdominal pain and discomfort, and disturbed bowel habit (which may present as either constipation or diarrhoea, depending on the patient); the diagnosis is often confirmed with the Widal test. Prophylaxis against typhoid centres on breaking its faecal-oral transmission route: ensuring a safe, properly treated drinking-water supply, proper disposal of sewage and human waste, thorough food hygiene (washing and adequately cooking food, avoiding contaminated raw produce), good personal hand hygiene, and va …

• Confusing typhoid's causative organism with that of pneumonia — typhoid is Salmonella typhi, a distinct bacterium from Streptococcus pneumoniae. …