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No thanksBefore departure, you should learn about the health conditions in the country or countries you plan to visit, your own risk of disease and the steps you can take to prevent illness by visiting a travel health clinic or a physician.
Typhoid is a bacteria within the salmonella family, specifically, salmonella typhi.
How is it spread?
Typhoid is transmitted through contaminated food and water. 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 the bacteria in their feces (stool).
Symptoms
The gradual onset of a persistent, high fever as high as 103° to 104° F (39° to 40° C). Other symptoms include headache, malaise, loss of appetite, splenomegaly (enlargement of the spleen), a rash of flat, coloured spots, and relative bradycardia (slow heart rhythm).
Symptoms can appear from 3 to over 60 days, but on average between 8 to14 days after ingestion of the bacteria.
Risk
The risk of typhoid is greatest for travellers to South Asia and developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Travellers that are visiting friends and family in these countries are also at risk as they are less likely to eat safe foods (cooked and served hot) and beverages (carbonated beverages or those that are made from water that has been boiled). Travellers have acquired typhoid fever even during brief visits or less than one week to countries where this disease is endemic.
Prevention
Two basic actions can protect you from typhoid fever:
It may surprise you, but watching what you eat and drink when you travel is as important as being vaccinated. Avoiding risky foods will also help protect you from other illnesses, including travelers' diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, and hepatitis A.
This information is intended to provide general health-related information about typhoid. It is not intended to replace medical consultation at a travel health clinic or by your physician.
