Typhoid, a severe infection that causes intestinal inflammation, was given its name by French physician Pierre Louis in 1829. The name was coined as a means to distinguish it from another debilitating disease, known as typhus fever. Typhoid fever is a disease derived from poor sanitary conditions, predominant in underdeveloped countries. Symptoms include malaise, fever, constipation and abdominal pain. If left untreated, symptoms can progress to intestinal hemorrhage, delirium, bowel perforation and eventually death. Throughout the years, this fever has received several alternate names.
Salmonella Typhi
Today, typhoid fever goes by the scientifically accepted name of Salmonella typhi. Per a report released by the Cambridge University Press, in 1858 an English physician named William Budd discovered that Salmonella typhi bacterium was spread through a fecal-oral route. Due to his studies and belief that such diseases were passed by humans through excrement, it was found that consuming food and water sources contaminated with Salmonella typhi bacterium can lead to typhoid fever.
Enteric Fever
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diseases that enter the mouth and intestinal tract by way of contaminated water, food, feces, or vomit sources are classified as enteric. Salmonella typhi, the causative agent of typhoid fever, is defined as enteric. Due to the route of entry and nature of the illness, enteric fever is another name given to typhoid.
Eberth Disease
Karl Joseph Eberth, a German bacteriologist and pathologist, discovered the bacillus he suspected to be responsible for typhoid fever in 1880. His findings were eventually confirmed by another pathologist, Georg Theodor August Gaffky, in 1884. In honor of the men who made the discovery, the microbes have been given names such as Eberthella typhi, Gaffky-Eberth bacillus and Eberth's bacillus.
