Infectious disease clinics of North America
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Infect. Dis. Clin. North Am. · Mar 2004
Historical ArticleOsler on typhoid fever: differentiating typhoid from typhus and malaria.
Early in the history of medicine, physician had a difficult time differentiating acute febrile illnesses without localizing signs. Typhoid fever and malaria share common features, which caused diagnostic problems during the 1800s. Physician even introduced a new term, typho-malaria, a testimony to their diagnostic confusion. ⋯ Osler is credited for debunking the term typho-malaria. His clinical description of typhoid fever remains unsurpassed. Clinicians still can benefit greatly from reading Osler's clinical description of typhoid fever.