Publication:

Dengue and typhoid co-infection: a case series from a tertiary care hospital in rural South India

Dengue and typhoid are important febrile illnesses endemic to India. A significant increase in incidence of these infections is observed during the monsoon season due to the vector borne and water borne origin respectively. When fever persists/symptoms are overlapping, co-infections with these two diseases should be suspected. Such co-infective conditions present with a clinical dilemma to diagnose and to provide optimum care and treatment. To avoid such dilemma, diagnosis should be made by considering clinical details, lab reports and radiological reports where applicable, keeping seasonality and endemicity in mind. In this case series, we present 4 cases of dengue and typhoid co-infection with an intent to create awareness regarding the early diagnosis and prompt treatment to improve patient condition and prevent mortality and morbidity. Diagnosis of dengue is made by taking relevant clinical details and NS1 antigen/IgM antibody positive status into consideration. Diagnosis of typhoid is made by considering relevant clinical details, widal test positive status with titer >1:80 for TO and TH.