If diagnosed and treated early, the infection is likely to be mild and can be treated at home with antibiotic tablets. Photo: PATH/David Jacobs.

Typhoid fever is not common in the United States. Appropriate antibiotics are the only effective way to treat typhoid, though supportive measures such as oral or intravenous hydration, blood transfusions, and surgery may be required depending on the severity of disease and presence of complications such as intestinal perforation or bleeding. All Rights Reserved. The risk of complications underscores the importance of prompt treatment following proper diagnosis, as well as the need to prioritize prevention. The disease is caused by a quickly-evolving bacterium that has developed defenses against these drugs. All Rights Reserved. Increasing rates drug-resistant typhoid highlight the urgency for preventative measures such as typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCVs) and improved water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Depending on the antibiotic used, treatment lasts between 5 and 21 days. Alarmingly, in 2016, researchers first identified XDR typhoid in Pakistan, and this ongoing outbreak has infected more than 15,000 people since it began. As treatment becomes more difficult, the need for increased access to preventative measures, such as vaccines and improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene becomes more urgent.

When these second-line antibiotics are unavailable, MDR typhoid becomes untreatable. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention As resistance to antibiotics has emerged including to fluoroquinolones, newer antibiotics such as cephalosporins and azithromycin are used in the affected regions.
Do not prepare or serve food for other people if you are unwell. Even if you feel better, you may still be carrying the bacteria and the illness could come back, or you could pass the infection on to other people. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Typhoid can cause serious short- and long-term complications if left untreated. About the Typhoid Vaccine Acceleration Consortium, 10 to 20 percent of typhoid cases can be fatal, Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, Multidrug-resistant iNTS: A growing threat in Kenya, Tackling typhoid with environmental surveillance, Driven by Data: Insights from World Water Week At Home 2020, Stories of Typhoid: In the Lab with Timothy Mutuma. If you work at a job where you handle food, care for small children, you may not be able to work until it is known that you no longer carry any typhoid bacteria. The traditional first-line antibiotics for treatment of typhoid are chloramphenicol, ampicillin, and cotrimoxazole.

Young children are at greatest risk.

If untreated, the illness can have serious complications, including death in about one out of five cases. About the Typhoid Vaccine Acceleration Consortium, Multidrug-resistant iNTS: A growing threat in Kenya, Tackling typhoid with environmental surveillance, Driven by Data: Insights from World Water Week At Home 2020, Stories of Typhoid: In the Lab with Timothy Mutuma. These drugs are inexpensive, widely available, and generally well tolerated in both adults and children.

The only way to know for sure if an illness is typhoid fever is to have stool (poo) samples or a blood test. Coalition Against Typhoid.

If diagnosed and treated early, the infection is likely to be mild and can be treated at home with antibiotic tablets. Coalition Against Typhoid. To prevent spreading the infection to others: Safe Travel

Currently, if left untreated, 10 to 20 percent of typhoid cases can be fatal due to resulting complications. © 2018.

In response to MDR typhoid, a different class of antibiotics, called fluoroquinolones, became the preferred treatment regimen in the 1990s. © 2018. Fluoroquinolones are now widely regarded as the optimal treatment for typhoid because they clear symptoms more rapidly than the first-line antibiotics and have very low rates of post-treatment carriage, meaning that it is less likely for a patient to continue spreading the disease following completion of treatment.