Perhaps, there is no disease entity that gets more blame for poor health than typhoid.
People used to refer to it as typhoid fever, but after a while, they dropped the fever and
majored on typhoid. You know, I think they reasoned that fever was being dragged into
the matter rather unjustly when typhoid was the main culprit.
Whatever! The problem is that folks keep accusing typhoid, like the devil, for all kinds of
symptoms in their bodies. If you’re one of those who think you’re always having typhoid,
pay attention to these 5 facts you probably never knew about it.
Typhoid is Curable
Yea, you got it right. That’s what I said. Typhoid is curable. I once said this to a man
who thought his wife was always having typhoid and he was surprised. He hadn’t heard
that before. Given his wife’s ugly experience with the disease, he had probably thought
they’d have to struggle with it all her life.
Many folks think so too. They think they can’t do without having typhoid once in a while.
Yea, they know if they take antibiotics, it will go away, but they think it will always come
back. Not quite. You don’t have to keep having typhoid. Once is enough, isn’t it? You
say then why doesn’t the doctor give you the main curative treatment? Don’t blame the
doctor so quick. The reason you keep having typhoid has nothing to do with your doctor
or even the typhoid itself. Yea, it has more to do with you.
You Determine if You’ll Have Typhoid
Two cunning boys once approached a revered wise old man with a little bird enclosed in
their palms. They wanted to trick the old man by asking to know if the bird in their hands
was alive or dead. If he replied that it was dead, they’d prove him wrong by releasing
the bird alive, and if he replied that it was alive, they’d squeeze the poor bird to death
and dispute the old man. Tough challenge, isn’t it? The old man didn’t think so. He
simply told them, “it’s in your hands.” In other words, whether the bird would live or die
depended on what they wanted.
That’s the point with typhoid. It’s up to you. You can have it as often as you want, but if
you don’t want to, you can do without it. How does this happen?
Typhoid is caused by bacteria known as Salmonella. It has a number of species. This
bacterium can give you typhoid only if you eat it. You say, “what on earth do you mean?
I haven’t ever eaten bacteria yet I’ve had typhoid many times.” Wait a minute. No one
that I know ever ate bacteria willingly. This is how you may have been eating
Salmonella.
When you eat or drink the faeces of someone who has typhoid, you eat or drink
Salmonella inside. No argument. I know that no one willingly eats even their own
faeces, let alone someone else’s own. People still eat and drink faces anyway. How do
they do that? By consuming foods or drinks contaminated by their own or someone
else’s faces.
You Can Get Typhoid from Someone with No Symptoms Themselves
No need going about asking your family members if they’ve ever had typhoid. Some
people can have Salmonella but not develop symptoms of typhoid. They’re known as
carriers. That means they only carry the bacteria without affecting themselves. The
trouble is, they can pass it to another person. They’re not bad people, necessarily. They
may not even know that they’re carrying the bacteria.
Regardless, if you eat food or drink water contaminated by their faeces, you’ll sure get
typhoid except, of course, if you’re also only a carrier. So, even if you only eat food
cooked in your house, don’t be quick to argue that your cook doesn’t have typhoid
because if they’re carriers, you won’t know.
Typhoid is a Disease of Poor Hygiene
This is all I’ve been trying to say all along. If you’ve had typhoid even just once, it means
you neglected your hygiene. Yea, doesn’t matter that you bathe three times a day, wear
a great perfume and put on nice clothes all the time. It’s in order for you to live like that
but hygiene is much more. You need to pay attention to what is going into your mouth.
First, what is your source of drinking water?
If it’s well water, how deep is the well? How
far away is it from the nearest toilet? If the well is not deep enough or far enough away
from a toilet, its water is likely to be contaminated by shallow water – some of which
may have flown directly from the toilet! Also, your well should be on the upper end of
your compound compared to the toilet. It should also have a good cover with an
elevated platform built around it.
Second, how do you process your food before eating it?
Food items like vegetables and
fruits that are often consumed raw or only partly cooked can harbour Salmonella if they
were contaminated by faeces. This can happen if they were washed in contaminated
water or the person handling them used the toilet without washing their hands.
Third, how do you dispose of faeces in your home?
Do you use a pit latrine or a water
closet? How deep is the pit latrine? If it’s a water closet, how secured is the septic tank?
These are important to prevent the content of the pit latrine and the septic tank from
mixing with underground water that may end up in your well or even borehole water.
To Stop Typhoid, Stop Your Habits
Yea, that’s what I said. It’s clear to you, isn’t it? Simply put, you’ve got to stop eating
shit! True! As far as typhoid is concerned, you are up against shit – your shit and all
human shit wherever it is found. You’ve got to keep shit far from your hands, your food,
your water and your mouth, at all costs. Thankfully, it doesn’t cost much.
Get a good toilet – a deep pit latrine or a water closet with a well secured septic tank.
Next, protect your source of drinking water.
If you don’t have access to pipe borne water
from your city’s waterworks or a sanitary well or borehole, you probably need to boil the
water you use for cooking and drinking.
Also, you need to develop the habit of washing hands each time you use the toilet. One
way to make this easy is to have a sink with a tap of running water and keep soap there
all the times. Each time you get up from the toilet, the sink and water will make it a
simple deal to wash your hands, but if you have to go to Cape Town to look for soap
and Cairo to get water, you’re not likely to wash your hands often.
Finally, you’ve got to keep them flies away from your food.
Yea, the housefly isn’t your
friend. Don’t groom them as pets! You don’t know what they’ve been up to all day
before they perch on your food. They may have been playing football on someone’s
faeces just before landing on your food. Never give them a chance. Also, if you use a pit
latrine, make sure its mouth is securely covered all the time. Let no fly make its home
there if you don’t want to keep having poor old typhoid again and again.