Typhoid fever continues to place a substantial burden on India’s healthcare system. A recent modeling study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia estimates that India recorded approximately 4.9 million cases of typhoid fever and about 7,850 deaths in 2023. Around 730,000 patients required hospitalization, highlighting that typhoid remains far from a controlled disease despite decades of public health efforts. One of the most striking findings is the dominant role of fluoroquinolone resistance.
An estimated 600,000 hospitalizations, or more than 80% of the total, were attributed to infections resistant to fluoroquinolones. Resistance levels have remained persistently high for decades, exceeding 60% since the late 1980s and peaking at nearly 94% in 2017. In contrast, resistance to third-generation cephalosporins and azithromycin has remained low, while classic multidrug…
