Recurrent Salmonella typhi Peritonitis

SALMONELLA typhiperitonitis is rarely seen in the United States today.1Recently the incidence of typhoid in the United States has been 0.2 cases per 100,000 people per year, with one third of the cases attributed to foreign travel.2In older series 2% of patients with typhoid had perforation of viscera and peritonitis. At the Kings County Hospital Center, four cases of typhoid were seen in 1977 and 1978. All were recent immigrants from the Caribbean. Among these patients one had peritonitis and an unusual course. Report of a Case The patient was a 19-year-old Haitian who came to the United States in January 1975. While in Haiti in November 1974, she was hospitalized for vomiting, abdominal pain, constipation, and high fevers. She was told she had typhoid fever and was treated with nasogastric tube decompression and 28 days of chloramphenicol therapy. She recovered uneventfully. Four months later,