Typhoid Fever

It usually takes 1 or 2 weeks from infection to illness with this typhus. At this time, the patient feels only slight fatigue, but remains on his feet. Then the temperature suddenly rises sharply, an excruciating headache begins, the face becomes indifferent, drowsy and as if swollen towards the mouth (very characteristic signs). No cough or runny nose. The abdomen is swollen, there is pain in the area of ​​the cecum, the spleen is enlarged, light yellow diarrhea appears, and sometimes reddish spots appear on the abdomen, as if from a flea bite.

This is the first week of obvious illness.

In the second week of obvious illness, the headache disappears, but the temperature continues to rise.

The third week is the hardest: the temperature during this week remains the same all the time - in the mornings 38-40°C, and in the evening - up to 41°C.

The patient loses weight, becomes weaker, and the pulse drops.

Fourth week. During this week, the fate of the patient is usually decided: if the temperature begins to drop, the patient often falls asleep peacefully, this indicates that recovery is coming.

If the temperature does not drop, the delirium intensifies, the pulse weakens, and sticky sweat appears, then this threatens death.

So, typhoid fever lasts 6 weeks: 1 week in a latent state, 4 weeks of obvious illness and another 1 week the patient must be very careful with food, as well as with regard to colds, movements, etc.

It is very easy to recognize typhoid fever yourself: firstly, it begins with a painful headache (like smallpox), and secondly, with it there is a discrepancy between temperature and pulse, i.e. the latter lags behind the temperature. So, at a temperature of 40°C the pulse should give 120-130 beats, but with typhus it gives only 90-100 beats.

Thirdly, the rise in temperature during typhoid fever occurs very correctly and indicatively, namely: for the first 10 days it systematically rises in the form of a ladder, i.e. every day the maximum and minimum are slightly higher than the previous day; then for a week the temperature remains at the same height day after day (i.e., maximum and minimum), and then begins to decrease along the same ladder.

The most dangerous thing with typhoid fever is intestinal hemorrhages, which indicate injury to the blood vessels in the intestines. When the bleeding is small, it can heal itself, unless something rough gets into the food. But when a lot of blood appears, this indicates the opening of a typhoid ulcer into the abdominal cavity, which usually leads to death.

This perforation occurs at 3-4 weeks of illness. At the first appearance of even a small hemorrhage, you should immediately call a doctor, but in the meantime, put a light ice pack on the patient’s stomach, and if there is opium tincture in the house, then give him 3-4 drops with water.

That is why with typhoid fever you need to be very careful with food, and the best thing is to not give the patient anything for all 6 weeks (or rather 5, since the first hidden one is not counted) except liquid food: milk, broth, coffee, mucous soups, jelly and etc.

It is better to give meat juices from the sixth week, when you can be sure that there will be no complications, much less perforation in the intestines. Wine can also be given to reinforce strength, but a little of everything, it is better more often than to immediately overload the stomach.

After typhus, when recovery begins, patients always experience a ravenous appetite, so food during these weeks must be monitored very vigilantly so that the patient himself is not tempted to eat something that he is not yet allowed to eat.

Then, during typhus, pay attention to the following: the patient must be given as much peace and quiet as possible and the light in the room should be dimmed, since light reflects destructively on the eyes of such patients. For the same reason, in no case should the patient be allowed to read no earlier than after 6 weeks, as this may then affect the eyes for the rest of his life.

From time to time, the patient himself must be very carefully turned from side to side, not allowing him to lie on his back all the time in order to avoid congestion in the lungs.

In order to prevent severe hair loss, the patient’s hair must be shaved at least 2 times at the very beginning of the disease, while the roots are in

Typhoid fever is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium _Yersinia pestis_. It is transmitted through contact with contaminated blood, animal hair, or soil containing bacteria and their secretions. Risk factors include living in disadvantaged areas of Asia, Africa and South America, as well as population migration. The disease has several typical symptoms that appear a few days after infection: fever, chills and vomiting. Sometimes diarrhea may occur. The severity of the disease depends on the patient’s immune status and the size of the infection. Usually, the body of an infected person is able to cope with the infection on its own within a couple of weeks. To prevent illness, it is necessary to maintain personal hygiene, avoid contact with animals, etc. There are also vaccinations against this disease. If you do not pay attention to the symptoms in time, the mortality rate from typhoid fever is about 25%. This is due to the lethal effect of infection on the internal organs of the body. If the situation worsens, the doctor may have difficulty diagnosing it due to the similarity of symptoms with other diseases.