Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection that can develop after a person eats or drinks contaminated food, milk, or water. Outbreaks of typhoid fever sometimes occur after natural disasters (such as fires, hurricanes, and earthquakes) when drinking water becomes contaminated with sewage.
Symptoms of typhoid fever include fever, chills, cough, red rash on the abdomen, watery diarrhea, a slow heart rate, and low blood pressure.
Typhoid fever can be treated with antibiotics. If it is not treated, serious complications may develop, sometimes leading to death.
| Author | Jeannette Curtis |
| Author | Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS |
| Editor | Kathleen M. Ariss, MS |
| Editor | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA |
| Associate Editor | Tracy Landauer |
| Associate Editor | Pat Truman |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Patrice Burgess, MD - Family Medicine |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine |
| Last Updated | May 25, 2007 |
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise