[Typhoid fever in a resuscitation department. Apropos of 42 cases]

A review is given on 42 cases of typhoid fever that were admitted in the “Hôpital Girard et Robic” anesthesia and resuscitation department in Tananarive, Madagascar, from 1979 to 1982. The authors have noticed: 18 digestive hemorrhages. 5 ileo-caecal perforations. 9 encephalitides. 16 myocarditides. 5 enterobacterial superinfections. The encephalitic complications and the enterobacterial superinfections are the cause of the very poor prognosis (5 fatalities). The authors recall the basic treatment of each of these complications. The rules of the antibiotic treatment are reviewed. In Tananarive, no resistance has been found to the following three antibiotics: ampicillin, chloramphenicol and sulfamethoxazole-trimetoprim. Finally, the authors lay emphasis on the necessity of a careful rehydratation and a high-level caloric and proteic artificial alimentation.