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Typhoid Fever

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Bacterial Infections of Humans

Abstract

Typhoid fever is a uniquely human systemic infection caused primarily by Salmonella typhi (a few other strains of Salmonella also can cause typhoid fever or enteric fever). A protracted, debilitating febrile illness characterizes the clinical course in untreated patients. The mental cloudiness or stupor associated with this type of chronic illness accounts for the name typhoid, meaning stuporlike. The disease is acquired by ingestion of food or water that has been contaminated by a human who has acute disease, is recently convalescent, or is an asymptomatic chronic fecal shedder of typhoid bacilli. In areas of the world where safe water supplies and good sewage control are not available, typhoid fever remains an endemic disease. The disease is no longer common in the United States; this low prevalence has created a potential public-health problem, i.e., a large population that has become highly susceptible to infection. Thus, travelers to endemic areas account for over half the cases of typhoid fever reported in this country. And as long as some carriers exist, this disease will remain a threat to cause outbreaks when sanitation measures break down and water contamination results . Patients’ illnesses can be easily controlled by appropriate and early institution of antibiotic therapy. Since the disease is rare and becoming more so, delays in diagnosis due to unfamiliarity with the clinical presentation have produced and will continue to produce unnecessary morbidity. (52)

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  1. Medical Education Administration, Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando, Florida, 32806, USA

    Richard B. Hornick

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  1. Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Alfred S. Evans (John Rodman Paul Professor of Epidemiology, Emeritus) (John Rodman Paul Professor of Epidemiology, Emeritus)

  2. Emory University School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Philip S. Brachman

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Hornick, R.B. (1991). Typhoid Fever. In: Evans, A.S., Brachman, P.S. (eds) Bacterial Infections of Humans. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1211-7_39

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1211-7_39

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