A retrospective study of patients with blood culture-confirmed typhoid fever in Fiji during 2014-2015: Epidemiology, clinical features, treatment and outcome

Abstract

Background: Typhoid fever is endemic in Fiji.We sought to describe the epidemiology, clinical features and case fatality risk of blood culture-confirmed typhoid fever from January 2014 through December 2015. Methods: Blood culture-positive patientswere identified from a typhoid surveillance line list. A standardised case investigation form was used to record data from patients' medical records. Results: Of 542 patients, 518 (95.6%) were indigenous Fijians (iTaukei) and 285 (52.6%) were male. The median (IQR) age was 25 (16-38) y. Mean (SD) time from the onset of illness to admission was 11.1 (6.9) d. Of 365 patients with clinical information, 346 (96.9%) had fever, 239 (66.9%) diarrhoea, 113..