Abstract

OBJECTIVE

Salmonella typhi is a food and water-borne human disease, and transmitted by faecal-oral route. In the presence of inadequate infrastructure facilities; poor sanitation and health care; outbreaks of typhoid fever via contamination of drinking water were reported.

Within this study; pediatric cases of typhoid fever outbreak were reviewed in Hakkari and emphasized that typhoid fever is still a serious health problem in East and Southeast Anatolia region.

METHODS

In this article children who were diagnosed and treated for typhoid fever were reviewed. Totally 118 children who were admitted to Hakkari State Hospital and a private medical center, diagnosed as typhoid fever were included during the period of march 5 to 30 in 2007. The diagnosis of typhoid fever depended on Gruber Widal agglutination tests.

RESULTS

Sixty eight patients were male (57.6%) and 50 were female (42.4%). Mean age was 8.4 years (10 months-17 years). Presenting symptoms in order of frequency were fever (100%), malaise (100%), headache (74%), abdominal pain (39.8%), vomiting (29.6%), diarrhea (21.1%), cough (16.9%), and epistaxis (5%). Hepatomegaly was remarkable compared to splenomegaly in physical examination of the cases. The most common laboratory features were elevated acute phase reactants, anemia (81%), leukopenia (56%),thrombocytopenia (3.5%), elevated transaminase levels (28%).

CONCLUSION

Fourty four patients (37.2%) were hospitalized and treated for deydration due to vomiting and poor oral intake. One patient had developed a clinical picture of subileus a complication.