Typhoid Fever
By: Adrienne Konopka
Typhoid fever is a disease. Many people don’t know what typhoid fever is, or
what it does. Sometimes typhoid fever can be deadly, killing people. After you read this
you will know a little more about typhoid fever then you might already know. Here are
my three questions about typhoid fever.
How to Get Typhoid Fever
Most people get typhoid fever by eating or drinking food or water that has
been contaminated by people with the disease, including those who do not have Shellfish is a seafood
close to a shrimp.
any symptoms like healthy carriers. Raw fruits and vegetables,
milk, and shellfish are the types of foods most often associated with the disease. People
can also spread typhoid fever from one person to another. Healthy carriers can spread
typhoid fever through cooking, like Mary Mallon. Luckily there is a vaccine now.
Side Effects
Some of the symptoms are poor appetite, headaches, aches and pains, fever, congestion,
and rashes. Typhoid fever usually lasts about four to six weeks.
In the most severe cases you can die. It is much less common to get typhoid fever now.
It is still possible, but it is a very small percentage.
Headache
Healthy Carriers
You can stay healthy and carry typhoid bacilli. Some health officials believe healthy
carriers, of typhoid fever, to be more dangerous than those sick with the disease
because there is no way to visually identify a healthy carrier in order to avoid them.
A famous carrier of typhoid fever is Mary Mallon, whose nickname was
Mary Mallon
Typhoid Mary. This is her story.
She was an immigrant from Ireland. She went around trying to make money by taking up
different jobs. Soon she was a cook for different houses. Every house she worked at
soon got typhoid fever.
The health department sent George Soper to try to
get blood samples to confirm that Mary was a healthy carrier. Mary did not cooperate.
Mr. Soper left quickly before he could get any samples, because Mary was coming
towards him with a carving fork. They tried again, this time bringing back up. They
found her outside in the cold hiding. They transported her to the Willard Parker
Hospital in New York. At the hospital samples were taken and typhoid bacilli were
found inside her, but she refused to believe that was true. She was then sent to North
Brother Island in an isolated cottage. She stayed there for twenty-three more years.
In December 1932, Mary suffered a large stroke that left her paralyzed. She was
then transferred to the children’s ward of the hospital on the island. She stayed there
until her death six years later on November 11, 1938.
Another famous person who suffered from typhoid fever was Joan Miró. He had
typhoid fever but was not a healthy carrier. He was born on April 10, 1893 in
Barcelona, Spain. He is famous around the world because of his unique style on all of his
work. He was working as a clerk in a drug store for a couple of years, but he did not
like his job and suffered a nervous breakdown and left his job. He got typhoid fever
later and had to spend some time in the family’s farm house in the province of Tarragona.
He resumed going to art classes after he was better in 1912. In 1930, Miró was
already a recognized artist and his fame became international. He died on December 25,
1983.
Awhile ago typhoid fever was dangerous and deadly. There was no vaccine. Now
you can get a vaccine. Many people back then and now didn’t really understand typhoid
fever. After reading my paper hopefully you will know more about typhoid fever.
Definitions:
Bacilli:
Any rod-shaped or cylindrical bacterium of the genus Bacillus, comprising spore-producing
bacteria or (formerly) any bacterium.
Shellfish:
An aquatic animal having a shell, as the oyster and other mollusks and the lobster.
Province:
The parts of a country outside of the capital or the largest cities.
Resources:
Julie Chibbaro Deadly New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011
history1900s.about.com/od/1900s/a/typhoidmary.htm March 2013
http://www.barcelona-budget.net/joan-miro.html April 2013
Dictionary.com April 2013
foodalergies.about.com/od/seafoodallergies/p/shellfish.htm April 2013
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/typhoid/default.htm April 2013