Abstract
There are 20 to 70 cases of typhoid fever annually in Japan, most of which occur in individuals that have traveled in Asia or to Africa. A breast abscess is an extremely rare complication and this is the first report in Japan of a breast abscess due to Salmonella enterica serovar typhi (S. Typhi).
A 28-year-old healthy woman was referred to our hospital with a lump and pain in her breast. An abscess was not recognized using computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US) and we diagnosed her with mastitis. She had a history of traveling to India and experienced repeated fever for one month after returning to Japan. She did not exhibit rash or gastrointestinal symptoms at the hospital visit. Blood culture test results were negative. Although her symptoms were relieved following 3rd generation cephem administration for 1 week, breast hardening remained. When the breast hardening was punctured, pus was obtained. S. Typhi was isolated in culture. Breast hardening also improved with Amoxicillin / Clavulanate administered for 2 weeks. It was identified as phage type, biotype II untypeable (UVS2) and showed resistance to nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin.
