Course of disease
The course of paratyphoid fever is usually quite mild. In contrast to the often more severe typhoid fever, the symptoms of paratyphoid fever are often only mild. The fever is usually not higher than 39°C.
The digestive tract is particularly affected, which manifests itself in diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Apart from this, however, other symptoms rarely occur. The disease usually lasts no longer than 10 days and usually heals without late effects.
Therapy
Since paratyphoid disease is caused by bacteria, the therapy consists primarily of the administration of antibiotics. This enables the salmonellae to be effectively combated. The preferred antibiotic is Ciprofloxacin.
In case of intolerance the antibiotic Ofloxacin can be given alternatively. As a rule, the medication must be taken for 10 to 14 days, depending on the severity of the symptoms. Occasionally it happens that an antibiotic does not work sufficiently.
The reason for this can be, for example, resistance of the pathogens to the drug. In order to exclude the presence of such resistance, a test should be carried out beforehand to determine this. If there is a resistance to Ciprofloxacin or Ofloxacin, the antibiotic Ceftriaxon can be given alternatively.
In addition, depending on the body temperature, possibly antipyretic drugs such as paracetamol should be given. The salmonellae that cause paratyphoid disease live within the body cells. Therefore, it usually takes several days before the antipyretic drugs take effect. In addition, care should be taken to ensure an adequate supply of fluids, as the body loses a lot of water through diarrhoea.
How contagious is paratyphoid?
The infection can be direct, i.e. transmitted from person to person, or indirect, e.g. through the ingestion of contaminated food. The direct route is mainly via the so-called fecal-oral transmission method.
If a person falls ill with paratyphoid fever, he/she excretes the salmonella via the stool. This allows other people to come into contact with the infectious pathogens, for example in hospital.The indirect route, in contrast, involves the intake of contaminated food or drinking water, i.e. food that is colonized with pathogens. The salmonella species causing paratyphoid fever has also been found sporadically in cattle and chickens, which poses a risk of transmission through food.
There are therefore several ways in which paratyphoid fever can be transmitted. During an epidemic, the risk of infection is relatively high. However, it should be remembered that this disease is very rare.
The countries where paratyphoid fever is widespread are mainly India, Pakistan and Turkey. After a person has been through the disease, he or she is relatively immune to the pathogens for about one year. However, a high number of bacteria can trigger a new disease even within this year.
