Brief Answer:
Inadequate duration of treatment is the cause
Detailed Answer:
Hi there,
Thanks for your query.
Firstly, in order to PINPOINT the exact cause of your problems; give you a SOUND professional advice; and, TRUE VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY, may I request you to kindly provide additional information as follows :-
# What were your symptoms when the so-called Typhoid began?
# After how many days did the fever disappear? Did you have recurrence of fever?
# Did you have watery
diarrhea also?
# Do you still get fever? If yes, is it continuous or occurs just for a few hours in a day?
# Whenever the fever comes up, do you feel shivering and get headache?
# How frequently do you get attacks of cold and cough in a month? Are these attacks associated with repeated sneezing, nasal discharge, nasal stuffiness, irritation and watering of eyes, pain around eyes and forehead?
# Have you lost weight in the past one year? If yes, how many kg?
However, pending receipt of the required information, I am of the opinion that the duration of treatment was grossly inadequate. Inj.
Ceftriaxone is given for at least 10-14 days. If full course is not given, then the surviving
typhoid bacteria in the blood, multiply again and cause
typhoid fever.
Further, Widal’s test is very non-specific and can be falsely positive in several other infections too, including malaria and E.coli infection. The only confirmative test for typhoid is isolation of typhoid bacteria in
blood culture. Was Blood culture done??
Also, please remember that a positive Widal’s test is just suggestive of a recent infection. The titres come down very slowly, in fact, much after the fever and other symptoms have disappeared. So, increased titres (1:320 or 1:160) does NOT MEAN THAT Typhoid is still persisting, if you have already improved completely. So, don’t worry about the Widals’ titres UNLESS you are still running fever.
Your doctor should now, get the following tests done (if you are still running fever):-
* stool culture for typhoid bacteria;
* blood culture for other organisms;
* urine examination and culture for urinary infection.
* a test for Malarial
antibodies and,
* a chest X-ray (to see for evidence of
tuberculosis or other infection) should also be done.
Once the culture is done, the culprit bacteria are grown which can then be recognized. Also, these bacteria are subjected to various antibiotics so as to know which antibiotic will be most effective( that is, which one kills maximum bacteria).
I cannot comment beyond this, till I get the complete information from you.
Consult your doctor and apprise him of my opinion. I am certain that he will agree with my opinion; order required tests, and- based on the reports- will arrive at a certain diagnosis and prescribe suitable treatment as advised.
Hope I have addressed to your concerns to your complete satisfaction and you find my response helpful and informative. I will be happy to answer further queries, if any.
I will be waiting for additional information in as much details as possible.
Have a nice day,
Dr. Rakesh Karanwal