[Treatment of typhoid fever with chloramphenicol or ampicillin combined with oxyphenbutazone].

Ninety-four patients with typhoid fever were treated, at random, with three therapeutic regimens: chloramphenicol alone, chloramphenicol plus oxyphenbutazone, and ampicillin plus oxyphenbutazone. The results are evaluated analyzing the body temperature graph and by serial blood had bone marrow cultures taken at intervals until they became negative. Bacteriologic diagnosis was confirmed by blood culture (39.3%) and/or bone marrow culture (77%). The mean duration of fever was 3.3 days for the group treated with chloramphenicol-oxyphenbutazone, 4.3 for those with chloramphenicol alone and 5 days for the group ampicillin-oxyphenbutazone; at the same time, blood cultures became negative at 4.4, 5.5 and 4.4 days respectively. Negativization of bone marrow cultures was not influenced by the addition of oxyphenbutazone. It is concluded that the influence of oxyphenbutazone in shortening the febrile period or in the negativization of blood cultures is not significant. It is considered that oxyphenbutazone is not an important therapeutic tool in this group of diseases.