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Case Reports: Reminder of important clinical lesson
Enteric fever masquerading as Crohn’s disease in a child with abdominal tuberculosis
  1. Bishnupriya Sahoo1,
  2. Karunesh Kumar2,
  3. Smita Malhotra3 and
  4. Anupam Sibal3
  1. 1Pediatrics, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, India
  2. 2Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, India
  3. 3Pediatric Gasteroenterology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, India
  1. Correspondence to Dr Bishnupriya Sahoo; dr.bishnupriyasahoo{at}gmail.com

Abstract

In tropical countries, like India, various types of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, enteric fever, malaria and dengue are prevalent. Disease trend over time has been gradually shifting from infective to inflammatory frame because of increasing awareness regarding hygiene and increasing immunisation coverage. This case report describes an adolescent boy having a long history of abdominal pain, bleeding per rectum and documented weight loss, presented with an acute episode of fever. But the coexisting infections and/or inflammatory conditions presented challenges to the treating physician in diagnosis and management despite of good clinical experience. In this case, a chronic gastrointestinal infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis with a superadded Salmonella typhi infection was masquerading as inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease). Utmost caution should be exercised to reach the correct diagnosis and take the necessary steps to manage this type of situation in tropical countries like India.

  • Gastrointestinal system
  • Infections
  • Endoscopy
  • Inflammatory bowel disease

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2022-249531

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors BS: contributed in the data collection and in writing the entire case report. KK: contributed in writing the discussion and summary portions of the case report. SM: contributed in writing the introduction and conclusion portions of the case report. AS: contributed in making necessary corrections and final drafting of the entire case report before submission.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.