Kolkata: A sharp rise in typhoid patients has kept hospitals worried. Several have been receiving a steady stream of patients since last week, including some with a very severe disease who required ICU admission. It is a little too early for a typhoid outbreak, a disease which spreads through contaminated food and water, said physicians.While kids have had dysentery more frequently, young adults have also had constipation. Fever has been common to all patients, though. Peerless Hospital, for instance, has received around 15 patients since last week, said Peerless microbiologist Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhuri. “We received around seven to eight typhoid cases last week while more were detected this week, some very severe. There were multiple patients, mostly young adults, who had very high fever though the other symptoms were mild. In typhoid, temperature shoots up and remains high, refusing to come down even after taking paracetamol,” added Chaudhuri. It is the salmonella typhi bacteria that causes typhoid or enteric fever. Pathogenic strains of escherichia coli (e-coli) have also been detected along with a few Shigella cases. “We have also found campylobacter jejuni and vibrio cholerae (causes cholera) in multiple cases with gastrointestinal symptoms,” he added.Charnock Hospital, too, has observed a sudden rise in cases. “Every day, we have been receiving five-six patients in the emergency department presenting with fever and abdominal symptoms, consistent with this illness,” said Nishant Agarwal, consultant & head of emergency at Charnock. Medica Superspecialty Hospital has seen a 50% rise in typhoid cases compared to June last year. “This year, the number of typhoid cases both in our in-patient and out-patient departments have been significantly higher than 2023. It is crucial for people to be vigilant about the quality of the water they drink and to avoid consuming chopped fruits from street vendors,” said Tanmay Banerjee, director of Medica Institute of Critical Care and Internal Medicine.At BP Poddar Hospital, too, there has been a sudden spike in cases. “In the last three days, 18 patients were treated in the OPD with typhoid out of which six had to be admitted,” said BP Poddar Hospital group advisor Supriyo Chakrabarty.BP Poddar Hospital consultant Santanu Basak said this sudden rise can be attributed to the intermittent rains and sporadic waterlogging. “Most street food vendors use contaminated water resulting in the surge of typhoid cases. Apart from fever, abdominal pain and diarrhoea, one of the characteristic symptoms of typhoid is the presence of rashes on skin called rose spots,” said Basak.Patients are being treated with antibiotics.
