🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Typhoid fever is an acute intestinal infectious disease caused by Salmonella typhi, characterized by persistent bacteremia, involvement of the reticuloendothelial system, microabscesses and ulcers in the distal ileum. Typical clinical features include sustained high fever, abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea, hepatosplenomegaly, and leukopenia. Some patients may develop rose spots and bradycardia. Both typhoid patients and carriers serve as sources of infection. Pathogens are excreted via feces, urine, and vomitus, directly or indirectly contaminating water or food, leading to disease transmission. Cases can occur year-round, but are more common in summer and autumn. Immunity after recovery is usually long-lasting. This condition falls under the category of "damp-heat" in traditional Chinese medicine's febrile disease theory.
The pathogen of typhoid is Salmonella typhi. After entering the digestive tract via contaminated food, the bacteria proliferate in the small intestine. They multiply extensively in the gallbladder and are continuously excreted into the intestines via bile. Persistent presence in the gallbladder can make patients chronic carriers, often accompanied by chronic cholecystitis, serving as a major source of infection. Some bacteria are excreted in feces, while others re-enter intestinal wall tissue through the mucosa, causing necrosis and ulcer formation.
Traditional Chinese medical theory holds that damp-heat pathogens enter through the mouth and nose, primarily accumulating in the spleen and stomach, causing damage. Early stages are primarily characterized by obstruction of defensive Qi by dampness. Damp-heat obstructing the exterior manifests as headache, aversion to cold, heavy body pain, and fever without marked rise—indicative of Wei-level syndrome. Damage to the spleen and stomach impairs digestion and transportation, leading to retention of dampness and obstruction of Qi movement, presenting as chest tightness, epigastric fullness, greasy tongue coating—indicative of Qi-level syndrome. Early on, although dampness contains heat, dampness predominates over heat. Those with relatively strong middle Yang tend to transform the pathogen into heat, leading to Yangming stomach involvement; those with relatively weak middle Yang tend to transform into cold, leading to Taiyin spleen involvement. In Taiyin, dampness dominates over heat; in Yangming, heat dominates over dampness. When damp-heat transforms into dryness and fire, it may deeply invade the nutrient and blood levels, damaging blood vessels and causing petechiae and bleeding. Excessive intestinal bleeding may result in collapse of Qi with blood loss and external exhaustion of Yang energy. Prolonged heat consumption depletes Yin fluids, leading to residual pathogenic factors after recovery, with weakened constitution.