Introduction
Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. Worldwide, typhoid fever affects roughly 17 million people annually, causing nearly 600,000 deaths. The causative agent, Salmonella enterica typhi (referred to as Salmonella typhi from now on), is an obligate parasite that has no known natural reservoir outside of humans. Little is known about the historical emergence of human S. typhi infections, however it is thought to have caused the deaths of many famous figures such as British author and poet Rudyard Kipling, the inventor of the airplane, Wilbur Wright, and the Greek Empire’s Alexander the Great. The earliest recorded epidemic occurred in Jamestown, VA where it is thought that 6,000 people died of typhoid fever in the early 17th Century. This disease is rare in the United States and developed nations, but always poses the risk of emergence. Originally isolated in 1880 by Karl J. Erberth, S. typhi is a multi-organ pathogen that inhabits the lympathic tissues of the small intestine, liver, spleen, and bloodstream of infected humans. It is not known to infect animals and is most common in developing countries with poor sanitary systems and lack of antibiotics, putting travelers to Asia, Latin America, and Africa in a high risk group. Of the 266 people infected in the United States in 2002, approximately 70% had traveled internationally within 6 weeks of the onset of disease.
Spread of typhoid fever
Salmonella Typhi lives only in humans. People with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract. Also, some people, called carriers, recover from typhoid fever but they still carry the bacteria. Both ill persons and carriers shed Salmonella Typhi in thei...
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...atment group. Bacteremia was established in the treatment groups. The level of white blood cells (WBCs) in the rabbits infected with Salmonella typhi but later maintained on ogi, decreased from 4900 mm³ to 4200 mm³. Similarly the WBC count decreased from 7300 mm³ to 6300 mm³ in rabbits that were initially infected (but fed on commercial diet) and later fed with ogi. It could be concluded that ogi could be potent in preventing Salmonella infection and the reduction of microbial load of Salmonella typhi in the blood of the mammals as shown by the microbial and haematological indices.
Conclusion
In conclusion, typhoid fever can be treated with antibiotics. However, resistance to common antimicrobials is widespread. Healthy carriers should be excluded from handling food. Unfortunately, nowadays we have more salmonella than the past because now more chickens are sick.
Typhoid fever is a systemic infection caused by the gram-negative organism Salmonella typhi. It is transmitted through fecal-oral or urine-oral route by either direct or indirect contact of the carrier’s or infected individual’s feces or urine. Humans are the only source of this organism. Ingestion of
Diagnosis of salmonellosis involves testing a sample of stool, as well as isolation from samples of tissue, blood, or urine. Since it is commonly mistaken for the flu and involves similar symptoms to other illnesses, the method of diagnosis for salmonellosis is pretty hard to come by. Most people with salmonellosis don’t seek treatment, so they’re never aware that they even had it. Since it is a foodborne pathogen, has a common route of infection via oral ingestion, and is found in food products that we consume on a daily
Judith Walzer Leavitt's Typhoid Mary details the life of Mary Mallon, one of the first known carriers of the typhoid disease. Leavitt constructs her book by outlining the various perspectives that went into the decisions made concerning Mary Mallon's life. These perspectives help explain why she was cast aside for most of her life and is still a household catchphrase today. Leavitt paints a picture of the relationship between science and society and particularly shows how Mallon was an unfortunate example of how science can be uneven when it is applied to public policy. This paper will focus on the subjectivity of science and its' interaction with social factors which allowed health officials to “lock[ing] up one person in the face of thousands”, and why that one person was “Typhoid Mary” Mary Mallon (Leavitt p. #).
You woke up a week ago feeling odd. You were not sure what was wrong, but your body was full of aches, you felt hot to the touch, and you kept vomiting. Your mother told you to lay down and rest, hoping it was just a cold. After a few days, you began to feel better, well enough that you wanted to return to the river to watch the trade ships come in. Now, unfortunately, your symptoms have come back with a vengeance – your fever is back along with intense abdominal pain, your mouth is bleeding without being wounded, and every time you vomit, it appears black in color. Also, when you look in the mirror, your skin has changed from the sun-kissed color you have always been to a dull yellow hue. The doctor comes in to examine you; he makes many “tsk tsk” noises and hurries out of the room with a cloth over his face. The doctor mumbles to your mother that he believes you have Yellow Jack and there is nothing more he can do, you are going to die. Your mother weeps uncontrollably yet you cannot react because another horrendous pain in your head has doubled you over. Soon, as you stop shaking and begin to relax, the sounds of the doctor and your mother become white noise and your surroundings begin to dull until you prove the doctor right; another person fell victim to the infectious Yellow Fever virus.
two hundred million people suffer world wide from Schistosomiasis. It is often misdiagnosed as Typhoid Fever. It is also found in mammals such as cattle and water buffalo.
Salmonella is one of the most common food-borne diseases that attack an enormous amount of people in poor countries every year. It is shown that “Today, it still attacks some 17 million people in poor countries each year, and kills about 600,000 of them. Back before antibiotics such as chloramphenicol, typhoid was very much feared” (Trek 1). Despite the advance in technology and medicine, Salmonella is
In crowded conditions, the rate of infection is even more rapid. The diseases brought over to America were mainly spread by the respiratory method. The pathogenesis of infection is through the ingestion of contaminated food and water. Throughout Europe during the 15th century, food and water were contaminated with fecal matter and by unsanitary habits ( i.e. the lack of bathing). The traumatic route of infection is through insect and animal bites.
The rail market continued to grow and by the 1860’s all major cities within the United States were connected by rail. The main diseases that showed the most virulence during the time were cholera, yellow fever and consumption, now known as tuberculosis. The 9th census mortality data showed that 1 out 7 deaths from disease were caused by tuberculosis and 1 out of 24 disease deaths were resulting from cholera. . Until the 1870s the general consensus of the spread of disease through population was still the primitive idea that it came from the individual and not specifically the pathogen.... ... middle of paper ... ...
By the 1840’s high rates of disease were ascribed to the housing many of New York’s poverty-stricken immigrants lived in. Fear spread that while disease was rooted in the polluted living conditions of New York’s poorer communities, disease could easily spread to the more well off citizens too. Public health officials realized that the city’s soiled streets and polluted sewers were a health risk to all New Yorkers. In the mid-nineteenth century, New York possessed a primitive sewage system. Poorly planned sewers spanned the city, but most citizens’ homes did not connect to these pipes. Instead, most New Yorkers relied on outdoor outhouses and privies. Because of the high levels of unmanaged waste, epidemics of infectious diseases were commonplace in New York. The city battled outbreaks of smallpox, typhoid, malaria, yellow fever, cholera, and tuberculosis. In 1849, a rash of cholera struck the city, killing more than five thousand people. A wave of typhoid in the mid-1860’s resulted in a similar amount of deaths. Port cities and transportation hubs, like New York, were especially prone to outbursts of infectious diseases because of the high volume of travelers that passed through the city. Americans realized that they were contracting and dying from infectious diseases at an alarming rate, but weren’t entirely sure of why or how. (Web, par. 17,
Salmonella is one danger that has caused many effects to consumers. Walsh writes about one incident when an outbreak “from tainted peanuts that killed at least eight people and sickened 600,” (Walsh 167). This incident left many people asking the same question, how can we trust the food that we put into our bodies? Salmonella, a type of food poisoning caused by bacteria found on different food types has caused an epidemic because of its domino effect on food and our health. Once one factory is contaminated, that factory could be housing both crops and meat, which is then transferred to our supermarkets and on our dinner tables. ...
A few years before 1918, in the height of the First World War, a calamity occurred that stripped the globe of at least 50 million lives. (Taubenberger, 1918) This calamity was not the death toll of the war; albeit, some individuals may argue the globalization associated with the First World War perpetuated the persistence of this calamity. This calamity was referred to the Spanish Flu of 1918, but calling this devastating pestilence the “Spanish Flu” may be a historical inaccuracy, as research and historians suggest that the likelihood of this disease originating in Spain seams greatly improbable. Despite it’s misnomer, the Spanish Flu, or its virus name H1N1, still swept across the globe passing from human to human by exhaled drops of water that contained a deadly strand of RNA wrapped with a protein casing. Individuals who were unfortunate enough to come in contact with the contents of the protein casing generally developed severe respiratory inflammation, as the Immune system’s own response towards the infected lung cells would destroy much of the lungs, thus causing the lungs to flood with fluids. Due to this flooding, pneumonia was a common cause of death for those infected with Spanish Flu. Due its genetic similarity with Avian Flu, the Spanish Flu is thought to be descended from Avian Flu which is commonly known as “Bird Flu.” (Billings,1997) The Spanish Flu of 1918 has had a larger impact in terms of global significance than any other disease has had because it was the most deadly, easily transmitted across the entire globe, and occurred in an ideal time period for a disease to happen.
“Typhus fever is another disease born of bad sanitation. It is also known as, "jail fever" or "ship fever," because it was so common among men held captive in such putrid surroundings. The disease was highly contagious and usually transmitted through human feces and lice that infested the unclean bodies of the Elizabethans.
Throughout human history disease has been linked to many facets of life and even the rise and fall of entire civilizations. Biological, social, political and economic forces have all influenced how the outbreak of disease is handled. Epidemics have altered history in how they have developed and the impact that they have had. In turn, epidemic management has been influenced by history and governments as humans have learned to cope with outbreaks and the social and political implications that result from them. Today, biomedical engineers, politicians, historians and social scientists are leading the battle in an attempt to understand and combat infectious diseases. This report will explore epidemic management and its historical relationship with the international political system. Issues will be investigated that range from the societal effects of epidemics, to observing today’s public policy debates regarding outbreaks to the possible reduction or even dissolution of conflict in exchange for food and medical technology between nations. Research has made it abundantly clear that humans must be vigilant in combating epidemics. By drawing on multiple disciplines, it is possible to implement a sound disease management plan that will control and reduce the spreading and mortality of infectious agents across the globe, as well as reduce tension and conflict between the developed and developing worlds.
Salmonella is also a bacterium that is widespread in the intestines of birds, reptiles, and mammals. It can spread to the human species a variety of different ways; through foods or animal origins. Some examples of food involved in outbreaks are eggs, poultry and other meats, raw milk and chocolate. The illnesses it causes are typically fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. In people with poor underlying health or weakened immune...
Typhoid fever (also known simply as typhoid) is a symptomatic bacterial infection that is characterized by various mild to severe symptoms, including fever, marked headache, and malaise. Other reported symptoms include anorexia, relative bradycardia, splenomegaly, nonproductive cough in the early stages of the illness, visible rose spots in the trunk, and constipation more often than diarrhea in adults (Heymann, 2015). The causative agent of typhoid is Salmonella enterica serovar typhi. Salmonella organisms penetrate the mucosa of both the small and large bowel, coming to lie intracellularly, where they proliferate. Initially S. typhi proliferates in the lower small intestine from where systemic dissemination occurs to the liver,