Treatment of typhoid fever: randomized trial of a three-day course of ceftriaxone versus a fourteen-day course of chloramphenicol.

To compare the efficacy of a short course of ceftriaxone with a standard course of chloramphenicol for typhoid fever, a randomized trial was conducted in 46 patients (30 adults and 16 children) who were blood culture-positive for Salmonella typhi or S. paratyphi. Ceftriaxone was given intravenously once a day for three days to 15 adults at a dose of 2 g/day and to eight children at a dose of 50 mg/kg/day. Chloramphenicol was given orally four times a day to an equal number of patients at a dose of 60 mg/kg/day until defervescence, followed by 40 mg/kg/day for a total of 14 days. Clinical cure without complications or relapse occurred in 19 patients (83%) treated with ceftriaxone and in 20 patients (87%) treated with chloramphenicol (P > 0.05). Four patients with clinical failures in the ceftriaxone group included two with fever lasting six days or more, one with altered sensorium, and one with relapse; three patients treated with chloramphenicol developed leukopenia and thrombocytopenia and were switched to amoxicillin therapy. Bacteriologically, blood cultures of all 46 patients were sterile three days after the start of treatment, and remained so through day 15 of follow-up. These results extend previous observations on the efficacy of ceftriaxone in short courses for both adults and children with typhoid fever.