Typhoid fever - Treating typhoid fever

Typhoid fever can usually be successfully treated with a course of antibiotic medication.

In most cases, you can be treated at home, but hospital admission may be required if the condition is severe.

Treatment at home

If typhoid fever is diagnosed in its early stages, a course of antibiotic tablets may be prescribed for you. Most people need to take these for 7 to 14 days.

Some strains of the Salmonella typhi bacteria that cause typhoid fever have developed a resistance to one or more types of antibiotics. This is increasingly becoming a problem in typhoid infections originating in Southeast Asia.

Any blood, stool or urine samples taken during your diagnosis will therefore usually be tested in a laboratory to determine which strain you are infected with so you can be treated with an appropriate antibiotic.

Your symptoms should begin to improve within two to three days of taking antibiotics, but it is very important that you finish the course to help ensure the bacteria are completely removed from your body.

Make sure that you rest, drink plenty of fluids and eat regular meals. You may be able to tolerate eating smaller, more frequent meals rather than three larger meals a day.

You should also take care to practice good personal hygiene, such as regularly washing your hands with soap and warm water, to reduce the risk of spreading the infection to others.

Contact your GP as soon as possible if your symptoms get worse or if you develop new symptoms while being treated at home.

In a small number of cases, the symptoms or infection may recur. This is known as a relapse.

Staying off school or work

Most people being treated for typhoid fever can return to work or school as soon as they start to feel better.

The exceptions to this are people who work with food and vulnerable people, such as children under five, the elderly and those in poor health.

In these cases, you should only return to work or nursery after tests on three stool samples taken at weekly intervals have shown that the bacteria are no longer present.

Hospital treatment

Hospital admission is usually recommended if you have severe symptoms, such as persistent vomiting, severe diarrhoea or a swollen stomach.

As a precaution, young children who develop typhoid fever may be admitted to hospital.

In hospital, you will be given antibiotic injections and may also be given fluids and nutrients directly into a vein thorugh an intravenous drip.

Surgery may be required if you develop any life-threatening complications, such as internal bleeding or a section of your digestive system splitting. However, this is very rare in people being treated with antibiotics. Read more about complications of typhoid fever.

Most people respond well to hospital treatment and improve within three to five days. However, it may be several weeks until you are well enough to leave hospital.

Relapses

Some people who are treated for typhoid fever experience a relapse, which is when symptoms return. In these cases, the symptoms usually return around a week after antibiotic treatment has finished.

The second time around, symptoms are usually milder and last for a shorter amount of time than the original illness, but further treatment with antibiotics is usually recommended. See your GP as soon as possible if your symptoms return after treatment.

Long-term carriers

After your symptoms have passed, you should have another stool test to check if there are still Salmonella typhi bacteria in your faeces. If there are, it may mean you have become a potentially long-term (chronic) carrier of the typhoid infection, and you may need to have a further 28-day course of antibiotics to "flush out" the bacteria.

Until test results show that you are free of bacteria, avoid handling or preparing food. It is also very important that you wash your hands thoroughly after going to the toilet.

Antibiotics
Antibiotics are medicines that can be used to treat infections caused by micro-organisms, usually bacteria or fungi. Examples of antibiotics include amoxicillin, streptomycin and erythromycin.

Bacteria
Bacteria are tiny, single-celled organisms that live in the body. Some can cause illness and disease and others are good for you.

Fever
A fever is when you have a high body temperature (over 38C or 100.4F).

Intravenous
Intravenous (IV) means the injection of blood, drugs or fluids into the bloodstream through a vein.