Murine Typhus and Febrile Illness, Nepal

Abstract

Murine typhus was diagnosed by PCR in 50 (7%) of 756 adults with febrile illness seeking treatment at Patan Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. Of patients with murine typhus, 64% were women, 86% were residents of Kathmandu, and 90% were unwell during the winter. No characteristics clearly distinguished typhus patients from those with blood culture–positive enteric fever.

Keywords

• Murine typhus
• Rickettsia typhi
• PCR
• Nepal
• typhoid
• dispatch