[Typhoid fever]

The second part of this review accounts on a patient with classic symptoms of typhoid fever. The case history is commented in the light of todays knowledge. The case was taken from the clinical notes of Schönlein one of the most famous clinicians of the first part of the 19th century. It reveals the difficulties of the physician to cope with such a disease without our present diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities. It is surprising to realize that 150 years ago therapy of typhoid fever was not substantially different from that in use up to the recent introduction of specific antibacterial therapy. Since the typical course of typhoid fever is only rarely encountered nowadays the case seems suitable to recall this clinical picture to our generation of physicians.