Impact of Antibiotic Misuse on Typhoid Fever Resistance Patterns

Abstract

The overuse of antibiotics is a big reason why Salmonella Typhi, which causes typhoid fever, is becoming resistant to drugs. This resistance to common medicines is making it harder to treat typhoid around the world, but we don't know how bad the problem is in some places. This research looks at how resistant S. Typhi is to antibiotics and if there is any link between resistance and antibiotics misuse. We checked how antibiotics are misused and how this affects typhoid resistance by surveying healthcare professionals and patients at Govt. Naseerullah Khan Babar Memorial Hospital in Peshawar. The results showed many people (about 36 %) had previously diagnosed clinically with typhoid & now they have same clinical features. The majority of positive history patients were male (maybe due to exposure to the outside environment & street foods).  The results show that there is still practice of using antibiotics without gold standard tests (culture) and patients with clinical features either self-medicated or treatment hasn’t been completed. This information shows we urgently need better control of antibiotic use, better testing, and campaigns to teach the public about the problem. People need awareness sessions specially on health issues & problems. That way we can reduce resistance and treat typhoid better.  

Keywords: Typhoid fever, Salmonella Typhi, Antibiotic resistance