El Salvador reports increase in typhoid

The most recent figures from the El Salvador Ministry of Health indicate that in 2025, up to May 31, a total of 151 cases of typhoid fever were confirmed, with a weekly average ranging between seven and nine cases.

According to Salvadoran infectious disease specialist Jorge Alberto Panameño Pineda, typhoid fever is one of the country's endemic diseases, caused by the Salmonella enterica enterica serovar Typhi bacteria, which causes fever and other illnesses. According to the expert, the disease's specific characteristic is that it is long-lasting, beginning as a fever and can last for months.

Panameño Pineda emphasized that transmission occurs through the ingestion of food or liquids contaminated with human feces, which commonly occurs due to poor hygiene in food handling. He also pointed out that another cause of the outbreak of the disease is the consumption of tap water, which is not always safe to drink.

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Symptoms of typhoid fever include high fever, weakness, stomach pain, headache, constipation or diarrhea, cough, and loss of appetite. Typhoid fever can be fatal without appropriate antibiotic treatment.

Typhoid risk is higher in populations that lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation, and children are at highest risk.

Typhoid fever is common in places with poor sanitation and a lack of safe drinking water. Access to safe water and adequate sanitation, hygiene among food handlers and typhoid vaccination are all effective in preventing typhoid fever.