Typhoid case reported in Deer Park student, 4

Suffolk County's health commissioner said Saturday that a 4-year-old girl who attends the Abraham Lincoln School in Deer Park had been treated for typhoid fever, a disease rare in industrialized countries like the United States.

Deer Park school district officials said the Suffolk County Department of Health Services notified the district late Friday, and the district then notified parents on its website and via phone.

The district said the child has been out of school for more than two weeks and is recovering, and that there is no evidence that the disease has spread.

The girl is believed to have contracted the disease on a trip with her parents to Bangladesh, Suffolk Commissioner of Health Services Dr. James L. Tomarken said in an interview.

"That's the most likely cause, absolutely," he said.

He said the child was treated at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip starting about Jan. 21 and was released Friday.

He said a hospital laboratory notified the health department of the positive results for typhoid on Wednesday or Thursday, after a test that takes several days.

Tomarken said his staff could not immediately recall a recent case of typhoid in the county.

"The student is making a nice recovery, but has not yet returned to school, and will not until deemed appropriate by the family's physician and in consultation with the district," Deer Park schools Superintendent Eva Demyen said in a statement to parents.

The statement said the school was undergoing a "full cleaning" over the weekend. About 175 preschoolers attend the school, the district said.

"In some cases, patients have a rash of flat, rose-colored spots," the agency says. Diagnosis involves testing of stool or blood.

Vaccinations are recommended for travelers to countries where typhoid is common.

The agency says about 400 cases occur each year in the United States, mostly in people who have traveled internationally. Worldwide, more than 21 million cases occur annually, the agency said.