Typhoid fever presenting as acute psychosis in a young adult: case report and literature review of typhoid psychosis

The rarity of acute psychosis in typhoid fever can result in delayed and misdiagnosis of the condition. We report a case of a 20-year-old man who presented with fever and acute psychotic symptoms. This was associated with headache, dizziness, and body weakness. There were no other significant symptoms. Neurological examination revealed reduced muscle tone of bilateral lower limbs but otherwise unremarkable. The computed tomography (CT) scan of his brain showed no abnormality. Blood specimens for microbiological culture grew Salmonella Typhi. This isolate was susceptible to chloramphenicol, ampicillin, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. He was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone for one week and responded well. He was discharged with oral ciprofloxacin for another week. The repeated blood and stool for bacterial culture yielded no growth of Salmonella Typhi.

Automated summary

The rarity of acute psychosis in typhoid fever can lead to delayed and misdiagnosis of the condition, a case of a 20-year-old man with fever and acute psychotic symptoms was successfully treated with one-week course of intravenous ceftriaxone, and subsequent tests showed no growth of Salmonella Typhi.