Most of these deaths are of infants. Fecal and urinary diseases can be spread by insects, swimming in surface waters, crops grown in contaminated water, unclean utensils, or drinking contaminated water. Bacterial Pathogens Typhoid fever can be treated with antibiotics. The organism is Salmonella typhi. The organism penetrates into intestinal mucosa and takes few organisms to establish an infection.
Ulceration occurs and bacteria enter blood and lymph.
They can establish infections in lymph, gallbladder, spleen, and skin. Fever and patient debilitation occur. Some individuals have minor cases and become carries who are a source of the disease. There are 3-4 carriers per 100,000 in the US Bacterial dysentery , Shigellosis is common and in the US we have 25 cases per 100,000 in infants. In a rural community of Guatemala 1965-1969, there were 200,000 cases per 100,000 population.