Neonatal typhoid fever.
Typhoid fever occurs in children less than 2 years of age but is thought to be a mild, often unrecognized illness. Neonatal typhoid fever is a rare but often life-threatening illness, uniformly fatal in the preantibiotic era. Vertical intrauterine transmission from a typhoid-infected mother is implicated in neonatal typhoid fever. Ten cases at a rural African hospital are presented. Three patients died with two deaths associated with empiric management inappropriate for Salmonella typhi. A second clinical presentation in the neonate is asymptomatic persistent excretion. Infants < or = 3 weeks old may also be infected from an exogenous source and have severe disease. Where typhoid is endemic S. typhi should be considered as a cause of sepsis neonatorum and appropriate antibiotics included in empiric therapy.
Reed
R P
RP
Shongwe Hospital, Shongwe Mission, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Klugman
K P
KP
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012485:Salmonella typhi / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013019:South Africa; D014435:Typhoid Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000635:transmission
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents