The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Drug resistance to typhoid a challenge to doctors: paediatrician

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 20, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Drug resistance to typhoid a challenge to doctors: paediatrician

Staff Reporter

There is little data available supporting use of steroids, says specialist

Chennai: Typhoid and paratyphoid affect 21.6 million people, causing 2,16,000 deaths globally, Dr. S. Balasubramanian, Senior Consultant in Paediatrics, Kanchi Kamakoti Childs Trust Hospital, Chennai, said on Thursday.

Delivering the Dr.V.R. Parvathi Endowment Lecture in Paediatrics, at the Institute of Child Health, Egmore, Dr. Balasubramanian said global deaths due to typhoid in 2000 was more than the deaths that happened due to the tsunami.

Noting that one out of four typhoid cases, was an instance of paratyphoid case, he said that in the last 20 years, drug resistance to typhoid remained a great challenge for doctors.

Paratyphoid was a less severe illness than typhoid with a shorter incubation period.

The coating of the tongue was not always specific to or sensitive to typhoid, he said.

While there was very little data supporting the use of steroids in typhoid, short course steroids were useful in reducing mortality for systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), he said.

Key strategies for prevention of typhoid were safe water, safe food, personal hygiene and appropriate sanitation.

Dr. Kalavathy Ponniraivan, Dean, Madras Medical College, Dr. Mangaiyarkarasi Senguttuvan, Director and Superintendent, Institute of Child Health and Dr. V.R. Parvathy also participated.

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