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23 Jun 2022 Typhoid fever

Posted at 10:00h in Daily current-affairs by khyati khare 0 Comments

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The bacteria that cause typhoid fever are becoming more resistant to widely used antibiotics, according to a study published in The Lancet Microbe Journal.
Typhoid fever causes 11 million infections and causes over 100,000 deaths per year. South Asia accounts for 70% of the global disease burden.

Typhoid fever is a life-threatening infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar typhi (commonly known as Salmonella typhi) which is transmitted only by humans. No other animal carriers have yet been found.

Typhoid fever is spread through the fecal-oral route, through ingestion of contaminated food or water.
Without treatment, about one in 20 people recover from typhoid, becoming a ‘carrier’. Their feces and urine carry the bacteria, even without showing any signs of illness, and they can infect others for a period of about three months (sometimes up to a year).
Travelers too many typhoid endemic countries are at high risk of getting typhoid fever. This includes parts of Asia (especially India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the Middle East.

Symptoms of typhoid range from mild to severe, can last about a month without treatment. Symptoms include: fever, fatigue, malaise (general feeling of malaise), sore throat, persistent cough and headache.

Typhoid vaccine/vaccine is available as an oral medication or one-off injection.
Capsules: This is an active, attenuated vaccine for adults and children over 6 years of age.
Dosage: For adults and children over 2 years of age, this is an inactivated vaccine that needs to be given 2 weeks before a person gets typhoid.
Typhoid vaccine is only 50-80% effective.

The effectiveness of antibiotics for typhoid fever is threatened by the emergence of drug-resistant strains.
The existence of resistant strains or strains of bacteria means that antibiotics or drugs designed to kill them no longer work, allowing them to spread rapidly, threatening public health.
Since 2000, there has been a steady decline in multi-drug-resistant (MDR) typhoid in Bangladesh and India, lower in Nepal and a slight increase in Pakistan.
However, according to a study by researchers from Stanford University, Christian Medical College Vellore and other institutions, they are being replaced by strains or strains resistant to other antibiotics.
Multiple-drug resistance (MDR) is defined as a lack of sensitivity to at least one agent in three or more chemical classes of an antibiotic. The Hindu Analysis
Strains were classified as MDR if they had genes resistant to the antibiotics ampicillin, chloramphenicol and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole.
A new type of drug resistance has been observed in strains called XDR typhoid. Resistant strains to the antibiotic (azithromycin) have been observed in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.
Extensive drug resistance (XDR) is caused by a typhoid strain that is resistant to at least five antibiotic classes recommended for the treatment of typhoid fever.