Typhoid

Typhoid

  • Purified Vi polysaccharide Typhoid vaccine
  • Immunization of Adults & children over two years age. WHO TRS 840,1994
  • Protection after two weeks from date of immunization.
  • Valid for three years

Contraindications : (Not advised in the presence of following conditions)

Egg allergy; immunodeficiency from medication, disease or symptomatic HIV infection; hypersensitivity to a previous dose; restrictions in pregnancy; Any active infection; Lactating (feeding ) mother.

  • Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella typhi, the typhoid bacillus. It is characterized by the sudden onset of sustained fever, severe headache, nausea, loss of appetite, constipation or sometimes diarrhoea. Severe forms have been described with mental dullness and meningitis. Case-fatality rates of 10% can be reduced to less than 1% with appropriate antibiotic therapy.
  • However, strains resistant to chloramphenicol and other recommended antibiotics (ampicillin, cotrimoxazole and even ciprofloxacin) have become prevalent in several areas of the world. Paratyphoid fever can be caused by any of three serotypes of S. paratyphi A, B and C. It is similar in its symptoms to typhoid fever, but tends to be milder, with a lower fatality rate.
  • Typhoid fever remains a serious public health problem throughout the world, with an estimated 16–33 million cases and 500 000 to 600 000 deaths annually. In virtually all endemic areas, the incidence of typhoid fever is highest in children from 5–19 years old. The disease is almost exclusively transmitted by food and water contaminated by the faeces and urine of patients and carriers.
  • Polluted water is the most common source of typhoid transmission. In addition, shellfish taken from sewage-contaminated beds, vegetables fertilized with night-soil and eaten raw, contaminated milk and milk products have been shown to be a source of infection. Typhoid fever has been virtually eliminated in most areas of the industrialized world with the advent of proper sanitary facilities.
  • Most cases in developed countries are imported from endemic countries. People can transmit the disease as long as the bacteria remain in their body; most people are infectious prior to and during the first week of convalescence, but 10% of untreated patients will discharge bacteria for up to 3 months. In addition, 2–5% of untreated patients will become permanent, lifelong carriers of the bacteria in their gall-bladder.