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. 1978 Nov 18;119(10):1183–1187.

Epidemiologic and clinical features of sporadic Salmonella enteric fever.

D J Briedis, H G Robson
PMCID: PMC1818544  PMID: 743658

Abstract

Twenty-seven cases of enteric fever were diagnosed between January 1961 and February 1977 at a medium-sized urban hospital. Nineteen of the patients had recently travelled abroad. Fever was the only constant finding, and four patients noted fever and headache as their only symptoms. Splenomegaly was present in 30% and rose spots in just 11%. Enteric fever was initially suspected in only 63% of cases, and a mean of 4.8 days elapsed after admission before specific therapy was instituted. Salmonella was cultured from blood samples in 19 of 24 patients and from stool specimens in 21 of 27, but was never isolated from the urine. Serum O agglutinins, while eventually present in 54% of the patients tested, did not help in establishing an early diagnosis. No deaths occurred, though two patients sustained relapses. Sporadic enteric fever is unlikely to be suspected unless associated with recent foreign travel, but is easily diagnosed by usual culture methods.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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