Key points
- Antibiotics are used to treat typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever.
- Timely treatment can help prevent serious health problems.
- If you are sick, you can help protect others from getting sick too.
Treatment overview
Antibiotics treat typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever.
Antibiotics can help you recover faster. They also can help lower the risk of complications and death.
Timely treatment is important.
Without treatment, people may have fever for weeks or months. They may also develop other health problems. People can die from these health problems if they do not get treatment.
Reminder
Some infections are antibiotic resistant.
Antibiotic resistance is increasing in bacteria that cause typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever.
What is antibiotic resistance?
Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. That means they are not killed and continue to grow. Antibiotic-resistant infections can be harder to treat, last longer, cause more severe illness, and lead to higher healthcare costs.
How this affects your treatment
Your healthcare provider might order special tests to see if the bacteria causing your infection are resistant to antibiotics. Results from those tests might affect the antibiotics you receive.
Prevention
The bacteria that cause typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever can spread easily among people.
Keep in mind
You can take steps to protect your loved ones from illness.
Take all of your antibiotics.
Take antibiotics exactly as prescribed. Keep taking them for as long as your healthcare provider says to take them.
Keep your hands clean.
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, especially after using the bathroom.
Use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.
Leave the cooking to someone else.
Do not prepare or serve food for other people until your healthcare provider says it's safe.