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Paratyphoid fever | |
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Other names | Paratyphoid |
Rose colored spots on the chest of a man with typhoid fever, similar to those of paratyphoid | |
Specialty | Infectious disease |
Symptoms | Fever, headache, rash, weakness[1][2] |
Usual onset | 6–30 days post-exposure[1][3] |
Duration | Weeks to months[1] |
Causes | Salmonella enterica spread by food or water contaminated with feces[1] |
Risk factors | Poor sanitation, crowded populations[4] |
Diagnostic method | Culturing the bacteria or detecting its DNA in the blood, stool, or bone marrow[1][3] |
Prevention | Handwashing, clean water[1] |
Treatment | Antibiotics[1] |
Frequency | 529,000[5] |
Deaths | 29,200[6] |
Paratyphoid fever, also known simply as paratyphoid, is a bacterial infection caused by one of three types of Salmonella enterica.[1] Symptoms usually begin 6–30 days after exposure and are the same as those of typhoid fever.[1][3] Often, a gradual onset of a high fever occurs over several days.[1] Weakness, loss of appetite, and headaches also commonly occur.[1] Some people develop a skin rash with rose-colored spots.[2] Without treatment, symptoms may last weeks or months.[1] Other people may carry the bacteria without being affected; however, they are still able to spread the disease to others.[3] Typhoid and paratyphoid are of similar severity.[3] Paratyphoid and typhoid fever are types of enteric fever.[7]
Paratyphoid is caused by the bacterium Salmonella enterica of the serotypes Paratyphi A, Paratyphi B, or Paratyphi C growing in the intestines and blood.[1] They are usually spread by eating or drinking food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person.[1] They may occur when a person who prepares food is infected.[2] Risk factors include poor sanitation as is found among poor crowded populations.[4] Occasionally, they may be transmitted by sex.[1] Humans are the only animals infected.[1] Diagnosis may be based on symptoms and confirmed by either culturing the bacteria or detecting the bacterial DNA in the blood, stool, or bone marrow.[1][3] Culturing the bacteria can be difficult.[3] Bone-marrow testing is the most accurate.[4] Symptoms are similar to those of many other infectious diseases.[3] Typhus is a different disease.[8]
While no vaccine is available specifically for paratyphoid, the typhoid vaccine may provide some benefit.[1][2] Prevention includes drinking clean water, better sanitation, and better handwashing.[1] Treatment of the disease is with antibiotics such as azithromycin.[1] Resistance to a number of other previously effective antibiotics is common.[1]
Paratyphoid affects about six million people a year.[1][9] It is most common in parts of Asia and rare in the developed world.[1][2] Most cases are due to Paratyphi A rather than Paratyphi B or C.[3] In 2015, paratyphoid fever resulted in about 29,200 deaths, down from 63,000 deaths in 1990.[10][6] The risk of death is between 10% and 15% without treatment, while with treatment, it may be less than 1%.[3]