A medical officer at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Desmond Nii Akwei Allotey, has said that typhoid fever can affect any part of the human body.

The expert said in an interview on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning show that the immune system is quick in responding to the bacteria that causes the infection and is devastating, making its fever higher than normal.

“The devastation is caused so much that it affects all the organs of the body. Mainly, it enters through your guts and the blood stream and comes across all the organs, from the liver to the gall bladder to the brain to the lungs. That’s how serious it can be if left untreated. When you get exposure to the pathogen, that’s the bacteria, it enters the gut, and the first phase is usually the immune phase. So, the body responds to the bacteria, to which it responds by generating temperature. So, the body becomes feverish, making the fever classically in typhoid is usually a step-wise fever. The temperature of your body keeps increasing,” he said.

He continued that the ailment causes pneumonia, leading to coughs and chest infections.

Despite the fact the typhoid can be treated, Mr. Allotey noted that the disease needs to be paid much attention to because there are relapses and may be severe when it’s revived.

“You treat and come back again. So, it puts the notion out there that it’s a condition that we must take seriously and treat well.”

This will avoid spreading to others and aid in curtailing its impact on society.

In 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated 9 million people getting sick from typhoid and 110 000 people die from it worldwide annually.

With these figures, Africa is considered to have recorded the worst numbers, as its population has the most unhygienic practices regarding water, sewage, and sanitation. This places Ghana in an endemic zone, according to Mr. Allotey.

He added that even though there is a vaccine to help in the treatment of the sickness, it is not the only way to reduce the burden of the disease, and the morbidity and mortality rates cannot be minimised when the infection continues to be active.

The medical officer advised patients to desist from self-treating themselves with antibiotics to avoid causing resistance to the pathogen and increasing the severity of it.

Registered nutritionist Rejoice Asabagna, who also shared her concerns regarding the resurgence of the disease in Ghana, mentioned that most people, including health professionals, are unaware that unhygienic practices are a major cause of typhoid.

“People actually think it’s coming from the dust you inhale. A lot of people don’t even know that it has to do with the organism, Salmonella, even people in the health sector. So, when they get to hear it, they become shocked.”

She recommended that health centers consider including typhoid in their routine health screenings in communities, as they do with hepatitis B, HIV, and other infections, to intensify awareness efforts.