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Paratyphoid fevers or Enteric fevers are a group of enteric illnesses caused by strains of the bacterium Salmonella paratyphi. There are three species of Salmonellae that cause paratyphoid: Salmonella paratyphi A, S. paratyphi B ( or S. schotmulleri) and S. paratyphi C (S. hirschfeldii).
They are transmitted by means of contaminated water or food.
The paratyphoid bears similarities with typhoid fever, but its course is more benign.
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Factors outside the household like unclean food from street vendors and flooding help distribute the disease from person to person.[1] Because of poverty and poor hygiene and sanitary conditions the disease is more common in less-industrialized countries, principally owing to the problem of unsafe drinking-water, inadequate sewage disposal and flooding.[2] Occasionally causing epidemics paratyphoid fever is found in large parts of Asia, Africa, Central and South America. Many of those infected get the disease in Asian countries. There are about 16 million cases a year, which result in about 25,000 deaths worldwide.[3] Salmonella Typhi can specifically only attack humans, so the infection nearly always comes from contact another human, either an ill person or a healthy carrier of the bacterium. The bacterium is passed on with water and foods and can withstand both drying and refrigeration but by keeping food refrigerated correctly this minimizes the production of the bacterium significantly.
Paratyphoid fever is caused by any of three strains of Salmonella paratyphoid: S. paratyphoid A; S. schottmuelleri (also called S. paratyphoid B); or S. hirschfeldii (also called S. paratyphoid B). [4] It starts when the bacterium Salmonella typhi is passed from another person due to bad hygiene such as not washing your hands after using the restroom. Eventually the bacterium passes down to the bowel, which then penetrates through the intestinal mucosa (lining) to the underlying tissue. If the immune system is unable to stop the infection here, the bacterium will multiply and then spread to the bloodstream, after which the first signs of disease are observed in the form of fever. The bacterium penetrates further to the bone marrow, liver and bile ducts, from which bacteria are excreted into the bowel contents. In the second phase of the disease, the bacterium penetrates the immune tissue of the small intestine, and the initial symptoms of small-bowel movements begin.
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