1. Typhoid fever is caused by the bacteria Salmonella Typhi and is transmitted through contaminated food or water. It causes inflammation and ulceration of the Peyer's patches in the small intestine, resulting in characteristic longitudinal ulcers.
2. Left untreated, typhoid fever can lead to complications affecting the bowels, bloodstream, bones, joints, meninges and gallbladder. Diagnosis is often made through colonoscopy findings of multiple punched-out ulcers in the intestine.
3. Treatment involves antibiotics, but chronic carriage can sometimes occur if the bacteria persists in the gallbladder.