Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
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Typhoid fever is an infection that causes
Alternative Names
Enteric fever
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
The bacteria that cause typhoid fever -- S. typhi -- spread through contaminated food, drink, or water. If you eat or drink something that is contaminated, the bacteria enter your body. They travel into your intestines, and then into your bloodstream, where they can get to your lymph nodes, gallbladder, liver, spleen, and other parts of your body.
A few people can become carriers of S. typhi and continue to release the bacteria in their stools for years, spreading the disease.
Typhoid fever is common in developing countries, but fewer than 400 cases are reported in the U.S. each year. Most cases in the U.S. are brought in from other countries where typhoid fever is common.
Review Date: 06/09/2011
Reviewed By: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Medical Director, MEDEX Northwest Division of
Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington School of
Medicine; and Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in
Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division
of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts
General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical
Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
