Herbal Medicines Used in the Treatment of Typhoid in the Ga East Municipality of Ghana

In Ghana, majority of the people patronize herbal medicines for the treatment of both chronic and acute ailments as well as infectious and non-infectious diseases. As such, the use of herbs as medicines in the treatment of enteric (typhoid) fever is very widespread.

Aims: This study therefore investigates anti-typhoidal herbal medicinal formulations that are for sale on the Ghanaian market with regards to the contents on the product labels and assesses the various active plant components in the light of documented evidence of their use in the treatment of typhoid.

Methodology: Herbal products for the treatment of typhoid were sampled from herbal medicine shops and pharmacies and assessed for the type of formulation, plant and non-plant constituents, dosage, indications, treatment duration and contraindications.

Results: Majority of the products (87%, n=16) had registration numbers whilst 13% had none. These anti-typhoid formulations were simultaneously recommended for the treatment of malaria (56%) (9 out of 16 products), jaundice (31%), various types of pains (body pains, headache, menstrual pains) (8%), stress (8%) and fatigue (8%). All the preparations had more than one plant as its active constituent. Forty-four percent (44%) contained 2 plants species as the active ingredients, 37% contained between 3 to 5 plant species, 13% contained 6 to 10 plant species and 6% contained more than 10 plant species. The most frequently occurring active plant constituents of these products were Carica papaya L. (Caricaceae), Morinda lucida (Rubiaceae), Citrus aurantifolia (Rutaceae), Vernonia amygdalina (Compositae) and Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae).

Conclusion: In all, thirty-four different plant species belonging to 25 families were found to be present in these products. A literature search on the plants species showed that their traditional use in the treatment of typhoid is well documented and hence their resulting formulations may as well be very effective.