SA Health officials issue alert after Stamford Grand Hotel food handler diagnosed with typhoid
South Australia Health has issued a public health alert after a part-time food handler at the Stamford Grand Hotel in Glenelg in Adelaide tested positive for typhoid fever, according to an SA Health media release Feb. 21.
Professor Paddy Phillips, Chief Medical Officer, SA Health said, “There is an extremely low risk of the infection being passed on, but SA Health is asking doctors to be aware of the possibility in people who ate at the hotel between 14 December 2012 and 15 February 2013.”
“There is no risk to anyone with current or future bookings at the Stamford Grand Hotel as the employee has been excluded from work since 15 February”, Phillips notes ; however, patrons that ate at the hotel should keep an eye out for symptoms over the next 60 days.
The food handler, and a child relative are believed to have contracted the disease while traveling in India. Both individuals are recovering from the disease at home, according to a Australian news report.
Almost all typhoid cases in Australia are acquired following travel to a country where typhoid is endemic, health officials note.
Typhoid fever is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi. Salmonella typhi lives only in humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract. In addition, a small number of persons, called carriers, recover from typhoid fever but continue to carry the bacteria. Both ill persons and carriers shed S.typhi in their feces.
The symptoms for typhoid fever include a high fever, headaches, diarrhea or constipation, stomach pains, weakness, and loss of appetite. In some cases a flat, rose-coloured rash may appear on the torso.
You can get typhoid fever if you eat food or drink beverages that have been handled by a person who is shedding S. typhi or if sewage contaminated with S. typhi bacteria gets into the water you use for drinking or washing food. Therefore, typhoid fever is more common in areas of the world where handwashing is less frequent and water is likely to be contaminated with sewage.
Learn more about typhoid fever in this educational video
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