Well, that self-diagnosis of giardia may have been a bit off, or at least, not comprehensive. After I took the Fasigyne I felt better for a few days, but Thursday night my illness came back with a vengeance, and Friday morning, as soon I was able to dress myself and crawl into the truck, we drove off to the Polyclinique Pasteur. We've seen two doctors there on our previous two visits, and we saw a different one this time. Dr. Toure had me lie on a table while he palpated my stomach. Ow! I said. Yup, she's got a stomachache! he said. After the exam, an Algerian phlebotomist drew two tiny vials of blood (all my dehydrated veins could pump out) and a couple hours later they phoned to say I had "le typhoid."

Le typhoid! Funny -- just one year ago I visited the Polyclinique Pasteur and was diagnosed with typhoid. At the time, I didn't know whether to believe them or not. First of all, I got vaccinated for typhoid. Second of all, typhoid sounds ... too scary. I looked online for information but found nothing really conclusively helpful.

Well, I looked again, and here's some information I wish I had last year:

A salmonella infection is a foodborne illness caused by the salmonella bacteria carried by some animals, which can be transmitted on kitchen surfaces and in water, soil, animal feces, raw meats, and eggs. Salmonella infections typically affect intestines, causing vomiting, fever, and other symptoms that usually resolve without medical treatment ... The type of salmonella most commonly associated with infections in humans is called nontyphoidal salmonella.

Another, rarer form of salmonella, typhoidal salmonella, is carried only by humans and is usually transmitted through direct contact with the fecal matter of an infected person. This kind of salmonella infection can lead to typhoid fever, which causes high fever, abdominal pain, headache, malaise, lethargy, skin rash, constipation, and delirium. It occurs primarily in developing countries without appropriate systems for handling human waste.
- from KidsHealth

Did you catch that? Here it is again, in case you skimmed it too quickly the first time: transmitted through direct contact with the fecal matter of an infected person! Wow! I'd sure like to pretend that doesn't happen here ... but on the way home from the clinique, we saw children playing next to an open sewer that the heavy rain had caused to overflow. They splashed around barefoot in the dirty water.

I think it's no coincidence that I've been diagnosed with typhoid at the peak of the rainy season, two years running.

Anyway, I'm taking ciproflaxin and feeling like a new person. I even ate three (small) meals yesterday. From now until I leave for Spain, no more meat, no more raw vegetables unless I myself soaked them in bleach, no more eggs unless I cook the hell out of them myself, no more unfiltered tap water (which I have been known to drink from time to time). My intestines are going to be spic-and-span for my much needed Costa Brava vacation ... I can almost taste the olives and wine already ...