What is the Difference Between Typhoid and Viral Fever

The key difference between typhoid and viral fever is that typhoid fever is a type of fever that is caused by a bacterium called Salmonella typhi, while viral fever is a type of fever that is caused by viruses such as Influenza.

Fever is also known as pyrexia. It is a normal reaction to a variety of conditions. Fever is defined as the febrile response of having a temperature above the normal range of 98.6 ⁰F (37 ⁰C). Fever may be caused by viral infections, bacterial infections, fungal infections, food poisoning, heat exhaustion, sunburn, inflammation, tumor, severe health conditions like asthma, diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and intake of certain medications for a longer duration. Typhoid and viral fever are two different types of fevers.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Typhoid Fever
3. What is Viral Fever
4. Similarities – Typhoid and Viral Fever
5. Typhoid vs Viral Fever in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Typhoid vs Viral Fever

What is Typhoid Fever?

Typhoid fever is a type of fever caused by a bacterium called Salmonella typhi. S. typhi is a bacterium related to Salmonella food poisoning. Typhoid fever is highly contagious. Normally, an infected person can pass this bacterium out of their body into their stool or urine. If someone else eats food or drinks water that has been contaminated with infected stool or urine, they can also become infected with typhoid fever. The symptoms of typhoid fever include a persistent high temperature that increases each day, headache, general aches and pains, extreme tiredness, cough, constipation, diarrhoea, and rashes.

Typhoid and Viral Fever - Side by Side Comparison

Figure 01: Typhoid Fever

Typhoid fever is diagnosed by analyzing blood and stool under the microscope and analyzing a bone marrow sample under the microscope. Treatment options for typhoid fever are a course of antibiotic medicine, vaccination, rest, and lifestyle changes (drinking plenty of fluids, eating regular meals, maintaining good standards of personal hygiene such as regularly washing hands with soap and warm water, and staying off work or school).

What is Viral Fever?

Viral fever is a type of fever caused by viruses such as Influenza. There are many ways that people can become infected with a virus. These include inhalation of droplets containing the virus, ingestion of food contaminated with a virus, insect and animal bites that carry a virus, and exchanging body fluids with someone with a viral infection. The symptoms of viral fever include chills, sweating, dehydration, headache, muscle aches and pains, a feeling of weakness or tiredness, and loss of appetite.

Figure 02: Viral Fever

Viral fever can be diagnosed through medical history, physical symptoms, throat swabs to examine under a microscope, and blood sample tests like white blood cell count. Furthermore, treatment options for viral fever include taking over-the-counter fever relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, resting, drinking plenty of fluid to stay hydrated, taking antiviral medications such as oseltamivir phosphate, and sitting in a lukewarm bath to bring the temperature down.

What are the Similarities Between Typhoid and Viral Fever?

Typhoid and viral fever are two different types of fevers.
Both fevers are caused by the infection of foreign agents.
Both fevers may have similar symptoms, such as persistent high-grade fever, body aches, etc.
Fevers can be diagnosed through physical symptoms and analyzing of body samples under a microscope.
They are mainly treated by taking specific medications.

What is the Difference Between Typhoid and Viral Fever?

Typhoid fever is caused by a bacterium called Salmonella typhi, while viral fever is caused by viruses such as Influenza. Thus, this is the key difference between typhoid and viral fever. Furthermore, typhoid fever takes 3 to 7 days to settle down, while viral fever takes 2 to 3 days to settle down.

The below infographic presents the differences between typhoid and viral fever in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Typhoid vs Viral Fever

Fever or pyrexia is a condition characterized by a temperature above the normal range of 98.6 ⁰F (37 ⁰C). Typhoid and viral fever are two different types of fevers. Both fevers may have similar symptoms, such as persistent high-grade fever and body aches. However, typhoid fever is caused by a bacterium called Salmonella typhi, while viral fever is caused by viruses such as Influenza. So, this is the key difference between typhoid and viral fever.

Reference:

1. “Typhoid Fever.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 28 Jan. 2023.
2. Seladi-Schulman, Jill. “Viral Fever: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Warning.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 31 July 2018.