AIBU to report neighbours for typhoid

[Cinders29]

Hi,

So long story our neighbours moved in about 2 years ago. They're extremely messy - huge pond and trampoline and god knows what in the front, back garden has rabbits, dogs and about 50 chickens. Food everywhere , loads of outbuildings and isn't 'stuff everywhere' anyway - no real problem to us ( apart from when we tried to sell our house )

However, we've noticed over the last couple of years an increase in rats ( we live near fields so expected but they're encouraging them ) there are 1000s of what I believe to be rat holes into his garden from the field next door. Weve also seen cockroaches.

Anyway, my son became very poorly a few weeks ago and was admitted to hospital for 4 days. Turns out he had typhoid which is ridiculous in this county right? Anyway with him being at home etc I just don't know where on Earth this could have come from.

Google says it comes from cockroaches - does anyone the likelihood of this please ? Also - if we suspect should we report ? I'll be so angry if it's come from there but I don't wanna just go around accusing when it could possibly have come from somewhere else

[mummydoris2006]

I have no knowledge on this subject OP but just wanted to pass on my best wishes to your son and whole family.

I started a thread on here recently and the amount of people questioning me and stating they didn't believe me actually made me really upset and anxious. I genuinely don't understand why people do this?!? I even thought about leaving MN. Don't let these posters get into your headspace OP, concentrate on what is important. Also yes I would be asking for next door to be looked at.

[SimonJT]

@seekingwaxwings

Ooh how did you do that fancy quote thing SimonJT! **

Click the three little dots on the bottom right of the post you want to quote and click quote.

[Hoggleludo]

@SimonJT. Ahh. Thank you.

[seekingwaxwings]

Ooh how did you do that fancy quote thing SimonJT! **

[SimonJT]

@Hoggleludo

Typhoid is covered by vaccines no?

It’s a notifiable disease. So the drs would be Letting the medical board. Or whoever they tell anyway.

It would be unusual for someone to regularly have typhoid vaccines unless they were regularly travelling to somewhere that had a high typhoid risk.

[Hoggleludo]

My daughter got measles. Fortunately she’d been vaccinated against it. So didn’t get very poorly. But we had all sorts of people ringing us. Questioning us (not in an accusatory way. Just seeing who and what and where’s and why’s!)

[Hoggleludo]

Typhoid is covered by vaccines no?

It’s a notifiable disease. So the drs would be Letting the medical board. Or whoever they tell anyway.

[MulticolourMophead]

As someone who works in the public sector, I can guarantee there's a lag in the reporting systems.

And given that most resources have been diverted to COVID, then other reports will still be catching up. It takes time for data to reach those resposible for drawing up the stats. Even the daily COVID deaths charts show revisions as data has come in.

[krispycreme]

I don't think you'll ever know 100% where it came from but regardless you need pest control to remove the rats/cockroaches from next door. Possibly call the RSPCA if you believe the animals living conditions are not good.

As a side note I expect PHE website always operates on a lag. E.g they report cases as 0 on 10th May but if someone is in hospital with it on 10th May it needs to be tested for and then reported.

[Kokeshi123]

Very strange about no antibiotics?

Typhoid, when not treated with ABs, can appear to go away but can lodge itself in the body and continue to reproduce, meaning that the person's stools remain infectious. It can continue for years or a lifetime in a small % of cases.

If they are not going to give ABs, I hope that they are at least providing a series followup tests to ensure that your son and all the family is completely typhoid free. Otherwise your son or another member of the family could be an asymptomatic carrier who could pass the typhoid on to others (like the infamous Typhoid Mary---she lived in the pre-antibiotics era and was a long-term asymptomatic carrier, meaning that everywhere that Mary went, people kept going down with typhoid). It's one reason why contact tracing is so important with this disease.

[Lynda07]

YeOldeTrout Tue 26-May-20 14:03:06
I didn't know cockroaches were ever a problem in Britain. New one on me.
......
You've obviously not worked in a hospital! The hospitals try to keep the cockroach population down but never get rid of them altogether. They're also common in old blocks of flats,

[strugglingwithdeciding]

Hope your son is ok op
I wonder if not being followed as well as previous person was due to correct situation and them having a lot more on than normal
I must admit until I read this for some reason I assumed it was part of the uk vaccination programme so you learn something new everyday

[picklemewalnuts]

I remember reading a news article about a young mum's horror seeing one on her sleeping baby daughter's face. An old tower block. They are hard to control, in multiple occupancy type places.

[HappyHammy]

Ive seen loads of cockroaches in the uk. Our local hospital had to put up special nets and cull pigeons because the roaches ate the poo and got into the wards. Ive also seen them in carehome kitchens.

[YeOldeTrout]

I didn't know cockroaches were ever a problem in Britain. New one on me.

[Starlet9729]

I don’t know anything about typhoid. I thought that had been eradicated in this country? Most people who get it have travelled to a higher risk country!

But yeah you need to get hold of the council, pest control or environmental health because of the rats! I’m sure your local authority website will give you some info.

[HappyHammy]

Chickens can get salmonella but I dont know if it passes to humans. I have heard a doctor asking a patient with it if they kept chickens. Environmental health can get involved with rats infestations and dont microbiologists inform the authorities of salmonella and typhoud.

[Lochroy]

I think the OP has more than covered this, but given there seem to be some disbelievers, yes you definitely do get cockroaches in the UK, but seemingly mostly places where there is grotty cleanliness and rotting food - not beyond the realms of possibility in ndn garden by the sounds of things. They frequently live in drains which is why they are such a health risk as they will literally walk through a sewer and spread whatever they've walked through across the next surface e.g. up they pop in your kitchen sink and spread those germs on your counter. It's why the likes of Rentokil are such big business in the tropics.

OP, even if you never know what's caused this, you've grounds enough to ask EH to have a look into the rats. Keep persisting!

[PineconeOfDoom]

A child with profuse diarrhoea in hospital wasn’t put in a side room? That is hard to believe tbh.

And multiple doctors are aware of this diagnosis of S typhi and none of them think he needs antibiotics? I really don’t think it can be typhoid that he has.

[picklemewalnuts]

My child got salmonella from playing in the garden with another child who had it. They were about 18months, playing in nappies. I assume someone's hand was in their nappy at some point... said child is 20 now, and I can't remember the timeline/testing situation now. It really can be passed very easily, and everyone is vulnerable to the occasional lapse. Could have been from a public toilet, for example.

Re the neighbour, disgusting though it is, it reminds me of a very organised Japanese (I think) system. They collect food waste and feed it to cockroaches. Then feed the cockroaches to chickens. Eat the eggs, chickens, and use the fertiliser on the fields. Nice circular waste free system.

[Cinders29]

And yes, we may never get to the bottom of it - that's fine but I think certain things so at least be investigated due to the seriousness of the disease and also with how rare it is.

I mean, I would have imagined they'd want to come and check our house no? It's typhoid!!!

[Cinders29]

Well I mean it's possible he picked one up or touched a table outside that it ran across and we were unaware and didn't immediately wash his hands. Hot on hygiene or not these things happen especially when you have a child with autism. He can not communicate in a way to tell us he saw a cockroach etc so it's possible.

PHE just asked about where we'd got our food from etc so I assume they will be investigating the local farm shop, veg supplier and local shops 🤷🏼‍♀️ they haven't definitely said they'll be doing that though.

[Embracelife]

Given your clear emphasis on hygiene etc it s still mysterious how your child would contract it. Maybe it s just one of those strange things. ?

Even if he picked up a cockroach you are clearly hot on hygiene your side. Did PHE suggest how he might have got it? If you dont go round for supper with your neighbour?

[Cinders29]

Sorry probably really boring everyone now 🤣 I've spoken to environmental health they reiterated do long as we carry on with good hygiene we will not spread it ( and due to time passed it would most probably be a non issue at this point )

I questioned the neighbours and he again said it would need to go down the complaint route. I'm absolutely baffled by this. So , let's just say it has come the neighbours and I decide to not make a complaint - EH and PHE would just ignore this, ignore there had a been a case of typhoid etc. Gobsmacked to be honest. His response was 'well yes this is the difficulty we face'

I pressed on said I think they have a duty to investigate all possible causes. He's getting the pollution team to call me to to discuss next steps ( basically would I want to complain 🙄 ) I will complain if I have to , I keep looking next door and thinking either way it's bloody disgusting and no matter how much I like them ( which I do, they're very lovely ) I'm not going to risk my family potentially getting ill.

[Cinders29]

I will question environmental health re testing rather than the doctor