How contagious is typhoid fever?
Typhoid fever is an infectious disease that leads to typical symptoms when infected. Infection occurs either by direct route from person to person or indirectly, for example through contaminated drinking water. In the case of a direct route, infection occurs through the excretion of salmonella in the stool.
This begins approximately one week after the onset of the disease. However, excretion of the pathogens is often not accompanied by a decrease in symptoms. It can still be present weeks later and in about 5% of all cases it even lasts for life without causing further symptoms.
These so-called salmonella permanent eliminators must therefore not work with food, for example, because the risk of infection is too high. After infection with the typhoid-exciting Salmonella, it often takes one to two weeks before the symptoms appear. However, it can also take up to 2 months before the symptoms become visible.
This very long period of time is very treacherous and increases the risk of unknowingly further infection. Since typhoid fever can spread very quickly, there is already an obligation to report by name in Germany if the disease is suspected. This also applies to the actual presence of the disease, a positive laboratory result or the death of a person through typhoid fever.
Diagnosis
Typhoid fever can be diagnosed differently depending on the time of the disease. At the beginning of the symptoms, the pathogen can be detected in the blood with the help of a so-called blood culture. Approximately 2-3 weeks later, the salmonella can also be found in the stool.
This is done with a so-called stool culture. From the 3rd week of the disease onwards, additional antibodies, which are produced by the immune system for defence, can be detected. In addition, there is the blood count typical of typhoid fever, with a deficiency of white and red blood cells (leukocytopenia and eosinopenia) and an increase in defence cells (lymphocytosis).
