Cranial nerve palsies in typhoid fever: report of three cases

Abstract

Neurological manifestations of enteric fever are well known. However, isolated cranial nerve palsies are rare. A 4-year-old boy and two girls aged 5 and 11 years with culture-proven typhoid fever are described, two of whom developed palatal palsy and the other sixth cranial nerve palsy. Following treatment, there was complete resolution of the cranial nerve palsies within 5–7 weeks. While palatal palsy is reported rarely, isolated sixth cranial nerve palsy associated with typhoid has not been reported previously.

Keywords:

• children
• typhoid fever
• palatal palsy
• sixth cranial nerve palsy