Which of the following types of fever is a characteristic symptom of typhoid fever?

Appeared in: PGICH Noida NO-2025

Explanation

Typhoid fever, caused by Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi, is classically marked by a stepladder fever pattern (SRC_29110).
This pattern involves a progressive, stepwise increase in body temperature over the first week of the illness.
The temperature rises daily, often reaching a high plateau of around 39–40°C (103–104°F) before becoming sustained.

Option A: This is not a recognized medical term for a specific type of fever pattern.
Option B: This is a biphasic fever pattern (two peaks of fever separated by a period of remission), which is not typical for typhoid.
Option C: This pattern involves fever that rises and falls in waves over weeks or months.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: Knowing Fever patterns in infectious diseases helps nurses interpret findings accurately and avoid errors in routine assessment, medication administration, and patient teaching.
Identifying fever patterns is a key nursing assessment skill that helps in the differential diagnosis of infectious diseases.
A nurse who charts a stepladder fever pattern should suspect typhoid, implement enteric precautions (for stool and urine), and monitor for complications like intestinal perforation or hemorrhage (SRC_29110).
What if? If the patient's fever was high but their pulse was unusually slow for the degree of fever, this would be 'relative bradycardia,' another classic sign that strengthens the diagnosis of typhoid fever (SRC_29111).

How to Approach the Question

Identify the keywords in the question: 'characteristic symptom' and 'typhoid fever'.
This is a factual recall question requiring knowledge of classic disease presentations.
Analyze the options based on known fever patterns. Recall or deduce the pattern for typhoid.
'Stepladder' describes a progressive, step-by-step rise in temperature, which is the classic description for typhoid fever.
Eliminate the other options by linking them to their associated diseases: Saddleback fever with Dengue, and Undulant fever with Brucellosis. 'Pseudofever' is not a standard term.
Select 'Stepladder fever' as the correct answer.

Concept Tested & Keywords

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E6 Nutrition Kumud Khanna 2e p. 196-198

E6 Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics(2024) — Volume 1 p. 1642-1644

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