Arthritis and adult respiratory distress syndrome: unusual presentations of typhoid fever.

A middle-aged woman presented with fever of 1-month duration along with bilateral knee joint pain, swelling and difficulty in walking for 2 weeks. The patient's Typhidot test was positive for IgM antibodies. Her Widal test was negative, and blood culture and synovial fluid culture were sterile. She was started on ceftriaxone, to which her fever initially responded. However, after 4 days of treatment her disease course was complicated by relapse of fever and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This settled with respiratory support and addition of azithromycin. Following recovery from ARDS and fever, her persistent knee arthritis responded to intra-articular methyl prednisolone instillation.