Typhoid still a killer disease in urban India!

Typhoid fever or enteric fever still continues to be a dangerous disease of the intestine. It is one of the commonest forms of fever. As is known there are numerous causes of fever with new diseases cropping up every monsoon. Typhoid however still remains the common denominator for the spectrum of febrile illnesses.It is usually manifested by fever which starts at low grade then increasing steeply typically called step ladder pattern. This is commonly accompanied by headache which is pathognomic of typhoid. Then follows anorexia and occasional vomiting. The patient usually seeks treatment from the family physician who invariably cause delay in diagnosis. This allows the disease to establish itself in the patient leading to lethal complications like intestinal bleeding (black stools) , perforation of the intestine, toxic myocarditis and febrile convulsions. The patient could die due to any of these complications.Hence patients are advised to seek specialist consultation for any fever accompanied by headache and abdominal discomfort preferably surgical consultation to avoid delayed diagnosis of this lethal disease.