Cholestatic hepatitis in a child with typhoid fever –a case report

Typhoid fever is a common infectious disease in developing countries. It is caused by Salmonella typhi. Salmonella is a genus of the family Enterobacteriaceae. They are rod-shaped, Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic bacteria, most of which are motile by perit¬richous flagella (which bear H antigen [s]). S. Typhi is taxonomically designated as Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhi. In addition to the H antigen (s), 2 polysaccharide surface antigens aid in further characterization of S. enterica, namely the somatic O antigen and capsular Vi (virulence) anti¬gen. Vi antigen is associated with resistance to complement-mediated bacterial lysis and resistance to complement activation by the alternate pathway. Salmonella enterica serovars Paratyphi A and Paraty¬phi B (and uncommonly Paratyphi C) cause a disease (paratyphoid fever) that is clinically indistinguishable from typhoid fever, particularly in parts of Asia. Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever are collectively termed enteric fever.