QUESTIONS:

1. How is typhoid fever spread?

Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella typhi bacteria. The S. typhi bacterium lives only in
humans and is spread through contaminated food and water. As a result, typhoid fever is
more common in areas that don’t have adequate sanitation systems. People with typhoid
fever can pass S. typhi bacteria in their stool and urine. Additionally, some people can carry
the bacteria in their gallbladder and shed it in their stool for at least a year. These people are
called chronic carriers and some have no clinical history of disease. You can get typhoid
fever by eating food or drinking water that’s contaminated with feces. This often happens
due to someone not washing their hands after going to the bathroom. You can also get
typhoid fever through close contact with someone who has it.

2. What is the usual course of the temperature in typhoid fever?

Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection that can spread throughout the body, affecting many
organs. Signs and symptoms of typhoid fever are likely to develop gradually, often appearing
one to three weeks after exposure to the disease. One of the common signs and symptoms of
typhoid fever is high fever. People with typhoid fever usually have a sustained fever as high
as 39 °C-40 °C. Typically, the temperature increases gradually day by day during the first
week. People usually experience raised temperature mostly in the evenings because during
the day, our immune system protect us but as night approaches, immune cells get less active
and do some inflammatory action, by deliberately increasing the body temperature in hopes
to kill the bacteria.

3. What is the general principle of the Widal test?

Widal test is an agglutination test which detects the presence of antibodies in patient’s serum
produced against the causative agents of enteric fever (Salmonella Typhi
and Salmonella Paratyphi A, B and C). The main principle of widal test is that if homologous
antibody is present in patients serum, it will react with respective antigen in the reagent and
gives visible clumping on the test card and agglutination in the tube. 

4. How long is typhoid vaccine considered to protect those vaccinated?

The vaccine helps protect against typhoid disease, an infection caused by typhoid
bacteria. The typhoid vaccine is either given orally or injected.

Oral Typhoid Vaccine is given as a series of doses in capsule form. Adults and children 5
years of age and older are given 4 doses of the capsule form of vaccine. Finish the series of
doses at least 1 week before you travel. The oral vaccine provides protection against typhoid
for about 7 years but provides the best protection up to 4 years. Consider getting immunized
again after 4 years if you continue to travel or work in certain areas.
 Typhoid Vaccine Injection is for adults and children 2 years of age and older. You will
receive 1 dose of vaccine given by needle. You should receive the vaccine 2 to 3 weeks
before travel. The injection vaccine provides protection against typhoid for about 2 years.
Consider getting vaccinated again if you continue to travel or work in certain areas.

5. What effect does typhoid vaccine considered to protect those vaccinated? 

The vaccine works by exposing you to a small amount of the bacteria, which causes your
body to develop immunity to the disease. Typhoid vaccine will not treat an active infection
that has already developed in the body, and will not prevent any disease caused by bacteria
other than Salmonella typhi. A typhoid vaccine specifically a Ty21 vaccine causes a local
immune response in the intestinal tract. The attenuated strain causes lipopolysaccharide
biosynthesis inducing a protective immune response. The cells inactivated bacterial cells lyse
before causing a virulent infection due to the intracellular build-up of lipopolysaccharide
intermediates. The response requires four doses of vaccine on alternate days. Vaccination
with Typhoid Vi polysaccharide vaccine-induced an increase in anti-Vi antibodies. The
vaccines work by stimulating your body to create antibodies (infection-fighting proteins) that
prevent you getting ill if you become infected with the typhoid bacteria.