typhoid

1. Super Typhoid Found in Pakistan is
Becoming a Global Health
Emergency
Posted 2 days ago by Ambreen Shabbir
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The Extensively Drug Resistant (XDR) typhoid fever emerged in the Hyderabad
district of Sindh province in November 2016.
Despite its severity and calls to contain it, its outbreak has gotten out of control.
More than a dozen deaths have been reported from different parts of the province. The
main issue with this condition is that this strain of typhoid is antimicrobial resistant
(AMR). It means that it can survive most known antibiotics.

2. However, it took a while for the medical specialists in Sindh to identify this fact. They
kept prescribing the same traditional medicine usually given in Typhoid cases. This
mishandling of the disease is deemed as the main cause of outbreak and casualties.
The disease is a global concern now, as a few foreigners on a visit to Pakistan also
caught the fever.
XDR Typhoid
Typhoid fever is a serious water-borne infection. The culprit behind it is a bacterium
known as Salmonella Typhi, which spreads through contaminated water and food.
The fever can cause death in some acute cases, but most of the time, it can be cured
with antibiotics. However, the case with this specific kind of Typhoid is that it cannot
be treated with traditional antibiotics.
According to a doctor associated with a renowned private hospital, the majority of the
XDR typhoid patients are children. They are susceptible to catching the disease from
their schools.
Most of the institutions are supplying unchlorinated water, which is very likely home
to water-borne diseases. Children can also contract this disease by eating
contaminated food from the pushcart vendors who usually use sewage-mixed tap
water to prepare the eatables.
A L S O R E A D
Pakistan Ranked Among Countries Which Use the Most Antibiotics
High Alert
Health officials in Sindh have told that the international health bodies like the World
Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are
on high alert.
They have started issuing unofficial travel advisories to people, asking them either to
refrain from going to Pakistan or take extra precautionary measures regarding food
and water.

3. “XDR typhoid cases have surpassed the 8,000 figure, with most cases being reported
from Karachi, followed by Hyderabad, Sanghar, and the adjoining districts,” says Dr.
Zafar Mehdi of the Sindh Health Department.
The Sindh Health Department is under tremendous pressure from the federal health
authorities and the international health bodies, as XDR typhoid cases are being
reported in the United Kingdom and the United States among travelers returning from
Pakistan,
Efforts to Contain the Disease
WHO is providing technical and material support to tackle the outbreak. “Being a
technical body, the WHO is providing technical support, which includes training to
contain this outbreak as quickly as possible,” says WHO representative in Sindh, Dr.
Sara Salman.
Given that the XDR Typhoid cases have been reported from the entire country, a
national action plan is also being formulated. She further revealed that Agha Khan
University Hospital had first diagnosed and reported the case.
Drugs Involved
There are two drugs required to treat the XDR typhoid. The authorities have issued
directives to local and multinational drug manufacturing companies, suppliers, and
chemists to ensure the availability of these drugs.