Causes of Typhoid fever
Cause of Typhoid fever: Salmonella typhi bacteria from food or water.
Cause details for Typhoid fever:
Salmonella Typhi lives only in
humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream
and intestinal tract. In addition, a small number of persons, called
carriers , recover from typhoid fever but continue to carry the
bacteria. Both ill persons and carriers shed S. Typhi in
their feces (stool).
You can get typhoid fever if you eat food or drink beverages that
have been handled by a person who is shedding S. Typhi
or if sewage contaminated with S. Typhi bacteria gets into
the water you use for drinking or washing food. Therefore, typhoid
fever is more common in areas of the world where handwashing is
less frequent and water is likely to be contaminated with sewage.
Once S. Typhi bacteria are eaten or drunk, they multiply
and spread into the bloodstream. The body reacts with fever and
other signs and symptoms.1
Contaminated drinking water or food. Large epidemics are most often related to fecal contamination of water supplies or street vended foods. A chronic carrier state--excretion of the organism for more than 1 year--occurs in approximately 5% of infected persons. 2
Related information for causes of Typhoid fever:
Further relevant information on causes of Typhoid fever may be found
in the risk factors for Typhoid fever
and underlying causes of Typhoid fever.
Footnotes:
1. excerpt from Typhoid Fever (General): DBMD
2. excerpt from Typhoid Fever: DBMD
Last revision:
June 23, 2003
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