The names are similar: what is the difference between typhus and typhus?

Typhus or typhoid fever is a disease that often affects Indonesians, both adults and children. You may also often hear that someone has been diagnosed with typhus by a doctor. So, are typhus and typhus the same disease?

What is typhus and what causes it?

Typhoid fever or commonly known as typhus is a disease that can be spread through food, water, or transmitted from an infected person (through feces).

Typhus is caused by bacteria Salmonella typhi. These bacteria are usually present in water contaminated with feces and can stick to the food or drink you consume.

If you often snack carelessly and your immune system is decreasing, you may experience typhoid fever. Young children may be more susceptible to typhoid fever because their immune system is not as strong as adults or it could be because children are not able to maintain cleanliness when eating.

Apart from food or drink contaminated with S. typhi bacteria, occasional typhus can also be caused through direct contact with an infected person. You can get a S. typhi bacterial infection when you eat foods that are handled by people who have typhoid fever.

It could be that the infected person forgets to wash their hands after using the toilet (sometimes S.typhi bacteria are present in the urine) and then the infected person handles food directly, so the bacteria can move to the food.

How bacteria can cause typhus

After you ingest the S. typhi bacteria found in contaminated food or drink, the bacteria then enter your bloodstream. The bacteria are carried by white blood cells to the liver, spleen, and bone marrow.

Furthermore, bacteria multiply in these organs and enter back into the bloodstream. When the bacteria invade the bloodstream, you start experiencing fever symptoms. Fever is the body's response to knowing that a foreign object has entered the body and is dangerous.

The bacteria then enter the gallbladder, bile duct, and intestinal lymphatic tissue. This is where the bacteria multiply in large numbers. The bacteria then enter the intestine. So, if you do an examination of your stool, you will see whether there are bacteria in your body that cause typhus or not.

What is the difference between typhus and typhus?

Many people may think typhus and typhus are the same disease. The very similar mention of typhus and typhus makes many people mistaken. However, actually typhus, aka typhoid fever, is different from typhus.

Typhus or typhoid fever is caused by a bacterial infection called Salmonella typhi which attacks the intestines. Meanwhile, typhus is a disease caused by the Rickettsia typhi or R. prowazekii bacteria. These bacteria can be carried by ectoparasites, such as fleas or mites in mice, and then infect humans.

Indeed, the symptoms of high fever can both occur in people who are infected with typhus and typhus. However, the bacteria that are the source of infection from typhus and typhus are different. Apart from high fever, other symptoms of typhus that can appear are abdominal pain, back pain, dry cough, headaches, joint and muscle pain, nausea, and vomiting.

As for several types of typhus, depending on the source of the bacteria that infects it, are:

• Epidemic typhus caused by the bacterium Rickettsia prowazeki, which is transmitted by tick bites on the human body. This type of typhus can cause serious illness and even death.
• Endemic typhus or murine typhus is caused by the bacteria Rickettsia typhi, which is transmitted by fleas in mice. This disease is similar to epidemic typhus, but has milder symptoms and rarely causes death.
• Typhus scrub caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, transmitted by bite mite larvae that live on rodents. This disease can attack humans in a mild to severe level.
• Spotted fever or fever accompanied by red spots on the skin spread by the bite of a tick infected with the Rickettsia group bacteria.