Australia's first case of extensively drug-resistant typhoid has been confirmed in a 20-month-old girl, who was taken to hospital suffering with high fever and vomiting.

Dr Philip Britton from the Children's Hospital at Westmead and the University of Sydney said the fact the young girl had recently returned from six weeks in Pakistan led doctors to believe she had typhoid.

Doctors recommend people vaccinate their children against typhoid if they are travelling to south Asia. Credit:iStock

"It was only actually when we grew the bug from her bloodstream that we became aware it was a highly resistant form, and a bug that's associated with an outbreak of this extensively drug-resistant typhoid in Pakistan and western India," he said.

The finding from February this year was published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday.