The Effect of Typhoid Fever on a Toddler

Typhoid fever is a serious condition caused by the salmonella bacteria. Most of the time, typhoid fever is treated with antibiotics and patients recover, but the condition can be dangerous to children, especially toddlers.

Prevention

• To prevent typhoid in children, a vaccination is available to them at a very young age. Accordingly, it is advisable to have your child vaccinated to avoid this serious illness.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of typhoid fever in children include high fever (103 to 104 degrees), watery or dry eyes, poor appetite, headache, general body aches, rosy spots on the abdomen, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting.

Other Symptoms

• Symptoms found in adults---and sometimes in children---include sore throat, abdominal pain, constipation, weight loss and delirium.

Tests

• Testing for typhoid in children is the same procedure as with adults and includes a medical and travel history, blood and tissue cultures, and testing for antibodies and antigens in blood.

Treatment

• For children in and around the toddler age, high doses of antibiotics are given to treat typhoid fever. Antipyretics are given to combat fever, and a specific diet regimen is recommended to allow time for recovery.