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What’s the Difference Between Typhoid and Typhus?

December 11, 2015 By Will Sowards 15 Comments

The difference between typhoid and typhus sometimes requires laboratory testing

For hundreds of years, typhoid and typhus have plagued the world. The two diseases affect millions of people every year, including travelers. But, many people do not know the difference between these similarly named diseases. This confusion often creates problems for travelers as they prepare to depart.

What is Typhoid?

Typhoid is a foodborne illness that infects an estimated 21 million people each year. Transmission is often through contaminated food or water, and symptoms develop within three weeks. Symptoms are usually mild but can be serious. More than 200,000 people die from typhoid every year.

There is a typhoid vaccine that is recommended for most travelers visiting undeveloped nations. To find out more about the vaccine, see our typhoid page, or contact your local Passport Health travel clinic.

What is Typhus?

Typhus is a flea-borne disease that affects thousands of people every year. It is often found in the colder mountainous regions of Africa, South America and Asia. Like typhoid, it most commonly occurs in areas where overcrowding and poor hygiene are common.

The World Health Organization does not have a vaccine against typhus in its registry. However, the WHO does note the risk is low for travelers. Humanitarian relief workers, though, may be susceptible to the illness.

 

What makes typhoid and typhus different?

Despite having fairly similar names, typhoid and typhus have little in common. One major similarity, and why many have thought them to be the same disease for so long, is the symptoms:

  • Typhus: Abdominal pain, rash, high fever, cough, headache, joint and muscle pain, nausea, chills, confusion and low blood pressure
  • Typhoid: Abdominal tenderness, agitation, bloody stool, chills, confusion, delirium, hallucinations, nose bleeds and fatigue.

The few differences in symptoms can make diagnosis problematic. The identification is also, at times, what causes confusion. Both diseases contain the word ‘typhi’ in their official names. Rickettsia typhi is the proper name of typhus and it’s Salmonella typhi for typhoid.

Infection vector, treatment and prevention, however, could not be more different:

  • Vector: Typhoid infection is food borne; typhus infection is flea-borne
  • Treatment: Typhoid treatment involves fluids and electrolytes as well as low-grade antibiotics. Typhus treatment requires specific antibiotics and may need intravenous fluids or oxygen.
  • Prevention: Typhoid is preventable through vaccination and avoiding contaminated food and water sources. Typhus prevention is more difficult, requiring repellents and insecticides. Maintaining proper hygiene is a must for preventing both diseases.

To find out more about typhoid, see our typhoid vaccination page.

Passport Health is uniquely suited to answer all your travel health questions. If you are traveling to a region with typhoid or are worried about either disease, contact the Passport Health clinic nearest you.

Have you had an experience with typhoid or typhus? Do you have any questions about this article? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments section below.

 


Reprinting or republication of this post on websites is authorized by prominently displaying the following sentence, including the hyperlink to Passport Health, at the beginning or end of the post.

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Comments

  1. Priyanka shivakoti says

    September 18, 2017 at 10:47 am

    Good explaination.thank you so much

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    November 8, 2017 at 8:40 am

    Very good explanation so thank you for you

    Reply
  3. Carrie says

    November 29, 2017 at 2:00 am

    They had something on Little House on the prairie today’s
    They called it the plaque
    Thank you for how explanation of the differences

    Reply
    • Anonymous says

      September 18, 2018 at 11:31 pm

      I saw it. They called it Typhus though lol

      Reply
    • Reese says

      September 26, 2019 at 8:21 pm

      I’m watching that episode now.

      Reply
  4. Martha says

    April 10, 2018 at 3:29 am

    Got my typhoid vaccine from Passport health and I still have trouble keeping it straight. Didn’t get sick! Thanks.

    Reply
  5. hiwot says

    May 10, 2018 at 4:18 pm

    I get enough information thanks

    Reply
  6. Analiza devera says

    June 3, 2018 at 2:04 am

    Thank you guys

    Reply
  7. M says

    July 26, 2018 at 4:42 am

    This so much helpful. Thank you guys

    Reply
  8. Anonymous says

    October 12, 2018 at 12:00 am

    Thanks

    Reply
  9. Anonymous says

    November 25, 2018 at 12:56 pm

    Thank you. I had typhoid a month or so ago, had to miss 2 weeks of school because I was in the ICU in the hospital. When I got back, our English teacher talked about typhus, which killed Anne Frank. Thanks for telling me the difference!

    Reply
  10. manyang kuich lam says

    January 21, 2019 at 6:44 am

    thank you very much ,this two diseases they have great confusion .this you so much

    Reply
  11. Sadhu K says

    February 5, 2019 at 2:13 am

    I was clueless of the difference between these two. Thanks for the clarification. Educative indeed

    Reply
  12. Penny says

    May 30, 2019 at 1:56 am

    That ‘Little House’ episode is indeed called ‘The Plague’, but the featured illness is typhus. The doctor is stymied because the sick people’s farms are located so far apart, yet the number of cases is growing even after a quarantine is imposed. It’s only when Edwards inadvertently mentions something they all have in common, that the townspeople discover the typhus source has been in the center of town all that time. It’s chilling! The series has episodes about anthrax and measles, too, and a rabies scare (which in those pre-vaccine days meant certain death).

    Reply
  13. Anonymous says

    August 5, 2019 at 11:29 am

    Thanks for the explanation

    Reply

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