Typhoid Fever

(ti'foid.) [From Gr. typhos, and eidos, form. ] (Med.) A disease which so much resembles in its main features that of typhus (q. v.) that until very recently the two were generally regarded as but different stages of the same affection. There appears good reason, however, for believing them to be e entially distinct disorders. T. F. usually commences more insidiously and more gradually than typhus; the sufferer is le dull and stupid, but more anxious, and during the delirium decidedly more active, and even vivacious. Diarrhœa is almost always present in T. F. (often accompanied with hæmorrhage), very rarely in typhus. In the former the eruption consists of rose colored spots, thinly scattered, and often entirely absent. T. F. is most common in youth, and rarely attacks persons after forty; while typhus may occur at any age, and the former does not reach its height for a week later than the latter. The general treatment required in both cases is almost alike. [s. 915]