Relapse typhoid fever in North-eastern state in Malaysia

Objective:To discuss the prevalence,clinical and laboratory presentations of relapse typhoid fever.Methods:All relapse cases were reviewed to identify the clinical and laboratory presentation of the relapse typhoid fever.Results:Two hundred and forty six patients were admitted to a teaching tertiary hospital in North-eastern state of Malaysia and fourteen(5.69%) relapse cases were identified.The duration of relapse after the patient was discharged was(25.0±9.9) d.The patients presented with fever,diarrhoea,headache,abdominal pain and constipation. The duration of fever before admission in the initial episode[(8.6±4.2) d]was significantly longer than the relapse episode[(5.0±2.5) d](P=0.019).Four patients have hepatomegaly in initial episode and ten in relapse episode(P=0.852).The defervescence days of initial episodes was (3.2±2.2) d,comparing to relapse episode[(2.0±1.8) d]which was statistically not significant (P=0.124).Conclusion:Assumption of the relapse typhoid fever is milder comparing to original episodes based on observation and is not supported by statistical analysis.