ISLAMABAD-A senior general physician, Dr Ejaz Vohra Tuesday called for raising awareness of typhoid fever and preventive measures among public to prevent its further spread. Talking to a private news channel, the senior physician said that vaccines against typhoid should be recommended for the people, especially school-going children who were more susceptible to the disease.

He explained typhoid fever is usually diagnosed via blood culture, where a sample of blood is taken from the patient and smeared on a culture plate, where, if infected, salmonella typhi will grow.

He said there is a dire need to create awareness of misuse of antibiotics and good hygiene practices to avoid this rising disease among citizens as it is a serious disease caused by the bacterium salmonella typhi that is spread by contaminated food and water. He further said typhoid is a highly contagious infection caused by the salmonella enterica serovar typhi bacteria. It is contracted by consuming contaminated foods or drinks and symptoms include nausea, fever, abdominal pain and pink spots on the chest. 

Some people have diarrhoea or constipation. In rare cases, typhoid fever can be fatal, adding, treatment with antibiotics is essential, vaccination helps to protect people from getting typhoid fever, he added.

 Health experts have also said with increasing number of ‘extensively-drug resistant’ (XDR) typhoid cases and the public to adopt good hygiene practices, drink boiled water and avoid eating raw food. XDR typhoid, he said, not only carried high risk of complications and was difficult to treat but was also showing a high relapse rate in children. However, limiting the use of antibiotics is unlikely to stop the spread of antibiotic-resistant strains of typhoid fever, he mentioned.