Typhus is a disease caused by infection with the bacterium Salmonella typhi. Transmission of Salmonella typhi bacteria can be from food, fluids, or feces of an infected person. In addition, typhoid fever can be caused by several bad habits that allow typhoid-causing bacteria to enter the body.
Salmonella typhi that enters the body can come from contaminated food and drink, thus triggering typhus symptoms, such as abdominal pain, high fever, diarrhea, or constipation. One of the causes of the entry of typhus-causing bacteria into the body is bad habits. Here are some bad habits that can increase the risk of typhus.
Avoid Habits That Can Cause Typhoid
One of the ways Salmonella typhi enters the body is through an unhealthy lifestyle. Here are some bad habits that you need to avoid to prevent typhus:
1. Consuming unclean food
Ensuring the cleanliness of the food consumed is the key to avoiding typhus. Therefore, avoid seafood contaminated with urine or feces infected with Salmonella typhi. In addition, make sure you wash your hands regularly with soap and running water after and before eating or after urinating or defecating.
2. Consuming dirty drinking water
Transmission of typhus-causing bacteria can also be through drinking. This is because feces or feces can enter your drinking water. This risk also needs to be considered by people who like to drink cold drinks, because using ice cubes to cool drinks carries the risk of carrying typhus-causing bacteria.
3. Snack carelessly
Another bad habit that increases the risk of typhus is snacking carelessly. Salmonella typhi can survive in water contaminated with faeces, and sticks to the food or drink you consume. This is why children are more at risk of experiencing typhus, because their immune system is not optimal or maybe children cannot maintain cleanliness when eating.
4. Using a dirty toilet
Urinating or defecating in a dirty toilet also increases the risk of typhus. This is because Salmonella typhi can live in the stool of an infected person, especially if you use a toilet that is contaminated with the feces of a person infected with Salmonella typhi and is not cleaned. Therefore, make sure you wash your hands with soap and running water after defecating in a public toilet so you don’t become infected with typhus.
5. Have sex with someone with typhus
Another risk of transmitting typhus is having sex with an infected person, either anal or oral sex. However, the risk of transmitting typhus generally occurs when a person has sex more than once with someone who is infected with the bacteria that causes typhoid. Therefore, avoid having multiple sexual partners to avoid typhus.
If you experience symptoms of typhus, such as fever, constipation, loss of appetite, or nausea and vomiting, immediately see a doctor to determine the cause and be given the right treatment. Symptoms of typhus that are not treated properly can cause serious complications, namely perforated intestine and bleeding or called intestinal perforation. This condition can cause leakage of intestinal contents into the abdominal cavity, thus risking life-threatening infections.
