Typhus is a bacterial infection that is extremely dangerously though not deadly that is spread by lice, mice and fleas. This bacterial disease can infect anybody but it mainly affects senior people like most of all other diseases since they are associated with lower body immunity than younger people. This bacterial infection have severe symptoms which make one feel very ill and completely disrupts one daily lifestyle. Typhus is also known by many other names such as Murine, jail fever,Brill-Zinsser disease and Epidemic typhus. It is caused by two types of bacteria known as Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia prowazekii and the symptoms of the infection depend on the type of bacteria causes them.

Typhus disease is common in dirty areas with poor sanitation where insects like fleas and lice and animals like rats and raccoons are found. The disease mainly occurs during summer in most parts of America and it is common to the elderly. Symptoms of the two types mainly include: abdominal pain, backache, diarrhea, headache, vomiting, nausea, joint and muscle pains, extremely high fever, hacking, dry cough and chills. The symptoms can be mild or severe depending on the level of infection. The symptoms are rarely deadly but require immediate attention of the doctor even if they are mild since if left untreated they could be fatal.

In case of typhus symptoms one should immediately seek doctor’s attention so that you are tested for it and in case of infection you get early treatment before the body is weakened further. A blood test is done to test the infection of the typhus causing bacteria and treatment mainly includes antibiotics. The antibiotics used are such as doxycycline, tetracycline and chloramphenicol and in some cases intravenous fluids such as oxygen are used to treat typhus. It is very crucial to seek medical attention since if typhus is not treated death may occur.

Typhus is not infectious and can be easily prevented by maintaining high levels of hygiene. Like the saying goes prevention is better than cure and thus it is wise to ensure that public health measure are place to prevent breeding of animals such as mice and lice which cause typhus. The cost of preventing the disease is far much insignificant in comparison to the cost of curing the disease and complications associated with it. It is therefore very important to ensure good sanitation and proper hygiene to avoid typhus and many other diseases.