At least 24 typhoid cases have been reported from Boddapadu village of Krishna district in Vijayawada metropolis, according to a local media report.  Health officials suspect that water contamination in the village could be the reason for the disease.

Salmonella serotype Typhi
Typhoid image/CDC

“We are suspecting that water contamination, particularly in that place, has led to the outbreak of typhoid”, District Medical and Health Officer, TVSN Sastry said. “We also directed the Panchayat Raj department to make sure proper sanitation and drinking water is provided in these areas to avoid future outbreaks,” he added.

The district health officials have deployed health teams comprising of five doctors in those regions to study the problem.

Typhoid fever, caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, is a life-threatening bacterial infection. Typhoid fever is still common in the developing world, where it affects about 21 million people annually.

Salmonella typhi lives only in humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract. In addition, a small number of persons, called carriers, recover from typhoid fever but continue to carry the bacteria. Both ill persons and carriers shed S.typhi in their feces.

You can get typhoid fever if you eat food or drink beverages that have been handled by a person who is shedding S. typhi or if sewage contaminated with S. typhi bacteria gets into the water you use for drinking or washing food. Therefore, typhoid fever is more common in areas of the world where handwashing is less frequent and water is likely to be contaminated with sewage.

Typhoid fever can be successfully treated with appropriate antibiotics, and persons given antibiotics usually begin to feel better within 2 to 3 days.

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