We compared the sensitivities of bone marrow aspirate culture (BMAC), 3 ml 1:4 and 8 ml 1:10 blood-to-broth ratio blood cultures (BC), 8 ml streptokinase clot culture (STKCC) and rectal swab culture (RSC) for isolating Salmonella typhi and S. paratyphi A from 61 patients with typhoid or paratyphoid fever in Jakarta, Indonesia. BMAC (92%) was significantly more sensitive than 8 ml BC (62%), 8 ml STKCC (51%), 3 ml BC (44%), RSC (56%) and the 19 ml combination of all three BC methods (71%). The combination of the three BC methods and RSC had an isolation rate of 87%. In Jakarta the diagnosis of typhoid fever cannot be confidently excluded unless a BMAC is done.