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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Pregnant. Widal Test Positive. High Fever. Quanteferron Gold Test Done. What Medication Should Be Taken?

Hi I am eight weeks pregnant. My body temperature for the past two - three years has remained around 99. One week back my widal test came positive, but my body temperature remains between 99 and 99.8. Also, I was being given medication for TB for almost six months. WHich I had discontinued in April this year. I had got the quanteferron tb gold test done, three days back the result for which came to 1.84 iu/ml, final result being positive. Please guide as to what medication should I take and will it harm my baby in any manner ?
Mon, 1 Oct 2012
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OBGYN 's  Response
hello there..
Typhoid fever during pregnancy are usually treated with amoxicillin or ceftriaxone injections. It's important that you don't take medications by yourself, so as to avoid complications.
It's highly possible that the baby can be adversely affected if not dealt with instantly, by any kind of infection during pregnancy. Typhoid fever leads to a loss of appetite and other problems of the digestive tract. So you could be deprived of necessary nutrients that are acquired through solid foods since the person suffering from typhoid fever needs to be on a particular diet and must avoid eating solid foods.
During pregnancy, typhoid fever is mainly caused by living in unsanitary conditions or by drinking contaminated water. Thus, you must keep your surroundings clean and drink only boiled or purified water.You must also visit the doctor regularly to ensure that the infection is completely out of the system, besides maintaining a healthy diet and consuming plenty of water.
Typhoid infection by itself is not teratogenic ( damaging to baby). Its effects on pregnancy are because of high fever. All high grade fevers are uterine stimulant and toxic to baby. These effects can precipitate preterm labour and intra-uterine death.
So you should not let your fever be high grade for which you can do cold sponging of body and take antipyretics like paracetamol tablet.
Other measures at home to be taken are :
Drinking fluids. This helps prevent the dehydration that results from a prolonged fever and diarrhea. If you're severely dehydrated, you may need to receive fluids through a vein in your arm (intravenously).
Eating a healthy diet. Nonbulky, high-calorie meals can help replace the nutrients you lose when you're sick.

Coming to the point that you are known case of tuberculosis , i would like to know that you stopped your treatment on your own or the doctor said your course is complete. Generally its taken for 9months. If you stopped it on your own as you were planning pregnancy, then let me tell you having tuberculosis is more harmful to the baby than being on treatment for tuberculosis. Antitubercular drugs have to be continued irrespective of the pregnancy. Stopping the treatment without completing the course can lead to drug resistance and flaring up of tubercular infection. The harm to your baby is more if you are not on treatment.
So i suggest you see a physician at the earliest, mention him your history and that you are pregnant and start your treatment for typhoid and tuberculosis at the earliest. Staying febrile during first trimester and infections can cause abortion so should act quick.

take care
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Pregnant. Widal Test Positive. High Fever. Quanteferron Gold Test Done. What Medication Should Be Taken?

hello there.. Typhoid fever during pregnancy are usually treated with amoxicillin or ceftriaxone injections. It s important that you don t take medications by yourself, so as to avoid complications. It s highly possible that the baby can be adversely affected if not dealt with instantly, by any kind of infection during pregnancy. Typhoid fever leads to a loss of appetite and other problems of the digestive tract. So you could be deprived of necessary nutrients that are acquired through solid foods since the person suffering from typhoid fever needs to be on a particular diet and must avoid eating solid foods. During pregnancy, typhoid fever is mainly caused by living in unsanitary conditions or by drinking contaminated water. Thus, you must keep your surroundings clean and drink only boiled or purified water.You must also visit the doctor regularly to ensure that the infection is completely out of the system, besides maintaining a healthy diet and consuming plenty of water. Typhoid infection by itself is not teratogenic ( damaging to baby). Its effects on pregnancy are because of high fever. All high grade fevers are uterine stimulant and toxic to baby. These effects can precipitate preterm labour and intra-uterine death. So you should not let your fever be high grade for which you can do cold sponging of body and take antipyretics like paracetamol tablet. Other measures at home to be taken are : Drinking fluids. This helps prevent the dehydration that results from a prolonged fever and diarrhea. If you re severely dehydrated, you may need to receive fluids through a vein in your arm (intravenously). Eating a healthy diet. Nonbulky, high-calorie meals can help replace the nutrients you lose when you re sick. Coming to the point that you are known case of tuberculosis , i would like to know that you stopped your treatment on your own or the doctor said your course is complete. Generally its taken for 9months. If you stopped it on your own as you were planning pregnancy, then let me tell you having tuberculosis is more harmful to the baby than being on treatment for tuberculosis. Antitubercular drugs have to be continued irrespective of the pregnancy. Stopping the treatment without completing the course can lead to drug resistance and flaring up of tubercular infection. The harm to your baby is more if you are not on treatment. So i suggest you see a physician at the earliest, mention him your history and that you are pregnant and start your treatment for typhoid and tuberculosis at the earliest. Staying febrile during first trimester and infections can cause abortion so should act quick. take care