Quantitative bacterial counts in the bone marrow of Vietnamese patients with typhoid fever.

Background: Bone marrow culture (BMC) is the reference standard for typhoid fever diagnosis. We studied the additional yield of BMC over blood culture (BC) and the relationship between quantitative BMC counts and severe disease.

Methods: Hospitalised Vietnamese patients with suspected typhoid fever were prospectively investigated with a BC, BMC, faecal culture and quantitative BMC counts.