Typhoid Fever
Salmonella is the name of a group of bacteria. In the United States, it is a common cause of foodborne illness. Salmonella occurs in raw poultry, eggs, beef, and sometimes on unwashed fruit and vegetables. You also can get infected after handling pets, especially reptiles like snakes, turtles, and lizards.
Symptoms include:
- Fever
- Diarrhea
- Abdominal cramps
- Headache
- Possible nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite
Symptoms usually last 4-7 days. Your health care provider diagnoses the infection with a stool test. Most people get better without treatment. Infection can be more serious in older adults, infants, and people with chronic health problems. If Salmonella gets into the bloodstream, it can be serious. The usual treatment is antibiotics.
Typhoid fever, a more serious disease caused by Salmonella, is not common in the United States. It frequently occurs in developing countries.
NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Physician's Therapeutics Memoranda on Typhoid Fever
Medication except to meet special indications is probably useless, although the Woodbridge treatment has its advocates. Antipyre tics are not to be used. A milk or koumys diet is best; in any case the food must be soft and easily digested. Alcoholic stimulants must be used to maintain strength, but not to the point of producing ex citement, circulatory or cerebral. Cold sponging or cold baths serve to reduce temperature. Danger of perforation must always be borne in mind, and will govern choice of remedies for constipation. In later stages, oil of turpentine becomes the most important remedy, to be used both internally and externally.1