Typhoid Fever

Typhoid Fever

Typhoid fever is a systemic disease caused by Salmonella typhi that can be found in contaminated food and water. In areas where sanitation is poor there is a high risk of typhoid transmission.Transmission of infection is from human to human.  The disease is unique to man and characterized by malaise, fever, abdominaldiscomfort, rash, and enlargement of the spleen. The most prominent compli-cations are intestinal hemorrhage and perforation The symptoms of Typhoid Fever are; fever, headache, loss of appetite  and insomnia.Constipation also occurs. If left untreated, complications can develop which may result in death. . In a typical patient not treated with antimicrobials the illness lasts about four weeks. With supportive care, barring complications, the recovery is good, although some “carriers” are known. About 3% of infected patients will continue to excrete organisms in the feces for years. They have been known to infect others where careful screening for food handlers has been lacking.

It is quite simple to vaccinate against Typhoid. The most effective way is the have an injection. The immune period is three years. There is also a tablet vaccination available for typhoid.


Famous victims
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_van_Zyl
Lizzie van Zyl was a child inmate in a British-run concentration camp in South Africa who died from typhoid fever during the Boer War (1899–1902).


Baiju Bawra aka (Baijnath Prasad or Baijnath Mishra), an Indian singer and musician died of typhoid at the age of 71 on the eve of the Indian festival, Basant Panchami in Vikram Samvat 1670 (1613 CE).


Hakaru Hashimoto, discoverer Of Autoimmune Thyroiditis Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Died on January 9, 1934, of typhoid fever.


Mary Mallon, more commonly known as Typhoid Mary, survived a childhood episode in Ireland to become an asymptomatic carrier in the United States.


Abigail Adams, second First Lady of the United States, wife of John Adams, died of typhoid fever on October 28, 1818.


Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, British prince consort, Queen Victoria's husband, died of typhoid Fever on 14 December 1861.


Edward VII survived.


Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Latter Day Saint movement, contracted typhoid as a child, survived.


Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales


Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine survived.


Princess Leopoldina of Brazil, Emperor Pedro II of Brazil's daughter, died of typhoid Fever on 7 February 1871.


Tadeusz Kosciuszko, hero of the American Revolution and Polish patriot leader, died of typhoid Fever in Switzerland, 1817.


Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, records contracting it in Hospital Sketches.


Charles Darwin, naturalist, during his visit to Chile with HMS Beagle in 1835.


Ignacio Zaragoza, Mexican general and Cinco de Mayo hero. Died of typhoid fever on September 8, 1862, about four months after his famous victory over the French army in Puebla.


Urilla Sutherland Earp, first wife of Marshall Wyatt Earp, probably died of Typhoid Fever in or around 1870 in Lamar Township, Missouri.


Eugenia Tadolini, a celebrated Italian soprano, died of the disease in Paris in 1872.


Leland Stanford, Jr. died of typhoid in 1884; his parents founded Stanford University in his memory.


William Wallace Lincoln, third son of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, died February 20, 1862 of typhoid fever.


Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln.


Thoby Stephen, elder brother of novelist Virginia Woolf, died of typhoid fever in 1906 at age 26. The deaths of Woolf's characters, Jacob in Jacob's Room and Percival in The Waves, are based on Thoby's.


Wilbur Wright, one of the famous Wright Brothers. Died May 30, 1912 of typhoid fever.


Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes. In his memoir, he details nearly dying of the disease in 1940 as a ten-year-old in Limerick, Ireland, and his ensuing 4-month-long hospital stay.


Stephen Douglas, politician and 1860 presidential runner-up.


Dr HJH 'Tup' Scott, captain of the 1886 Australian cricket team that toured England, died of typhoid in 1910.


Arnold Bennett, English novelist, died in 1931 of typhoid, two months after drinking a glass of water in a Paris hotel to prove it was safe.


Raymond Radiguet, French literary prodigy, died of typhoid at age 20 while on a trip with his mentor, Jean Cocteau.


Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, founder and first Sarsanghchalak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, died of typhoid at age 51 on June 21, 1940.


Gerard Manley Hopkins, Jesuit and poet.


Ralph Rose, three-time Olympic champion and six-time medalist in throwing events, died of typhoid on October 16, 1913 at age 28.


Roger Sherman, a Founding Father of the United States of America.


Georgia O'Keeffe, a famous painter, survived


Ravi Shankar, musician, survived


Tsar Nicholas II of Russia had typhoid in 1900, survived.


Heath Bell, Relief Pitcher San Diego Padres acquired on 2010 trip to Fiji, survived.


Mark Hanna - Died, 1904. Republican Party boss and United States Senator representing Ohio. Contracted Tyhpoid from drinking tainted tap water in Columbus, Ohio. Hanna's death prompted Columbus city officials modernize the public water system and how it handled raw sewage.

Typhoid Mary

"Typhoid Mary, was the first person in the United States to be identified as a healthy carrier of typhoid fever. Over the course of her career as a cook, she is known to have infected 53 people, three of whom died from the disease.Her notoriety is in part due to her vehement denial of her own role in spreading the disease, together with her refusal to cease working as a cook. She was forcibly quarantined twice by public health authorities and died in quarantine. It is possible that she was born with the disease, as her mother had typhoid fever during her pregnancy."