Enteric Fever with Severe Pancytopenia in a Four Year Girl

Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever (also known as enteric fever) are severe systemic illnesses caused by salmonella typhi and S. paratyphi respectively. Enteric fever is prevalent in developing countries including Nepal, where it still remains as a major health problem. There have been reports of pancytopenia with enteric fever which has been attributed to mechanisms like bone marrow suppression, infection associated hemophagocytic syndrome and disseminated intravascular coagulation. We report here a case of severe pancytopenia in enteric fever as a result of bone marrow suppression due to systemic infection.