Question

Typical pattern of fever in typhoid is:
(A) Intermittent fever
(B) Relapsing fever
(C) Pel-Ebstein fever
(D) Continuous fever

Answer 1

Typhoid Fever is characterised by Step-ladder Pyrexia. This implies that the fever vacillates between exceptionally high and low temperatures for a brief period of time. There is a gradual rise in temperature with preceding plateaus.

Complete answer:
The pathogen responsible for the cause of Typhoid is Salmonella typhi. This pathogen enters the intestine through contaminated food and water and migrates to other organs through blood. It is marked with sustained high fever i.e. $39^\circ C − 40^\circ C$. The typhoid fever is prolonged and persistent as the temperature remains high for more than 24 hours and does not show significant variation in the persistent temperature i.e. the elevated temperature does not fluctuate more than $1^\circ C$. This type of fever is known as continuous fever.

Another name of Typhoid fever is Enteric Fever. Enteric fever represents a collective term that outlines both typhoid and paratyphoid fever. The different other symptoms of Typhoid fever include weakness, constipation, stomach pain, headache as well as loss of appetite which is termed as Anorexia. In severe cases, it can result in intestinal perforation and death.

A famous test used to detect the presence of absence of the pathogen in Typhoid is the ‘Widal test’. Remittent fever is very similar to Typhoid fever where the temperature is elevated continuously. However, the elevated temperature alters more than $1^\circ C$ which is unlike the continuous fever in Typhoid.

Hence, the correct answer is option (D).

Note: The infamous Mary Mallon also known as ‘Typhoid Mary’ was the carrier of Typhoid who was responsible for spreading the disease amongst many people. She was an Irish immigrant who worked for wealthy families as a cook. She is known to be the first person in the United States to be an asymptomatic carrier for the disease.