Determination of baseline Widal titre among apparently healthy population in Dehradun City

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Present study was conducted to determine the baseline widal titer of healthy population of Dehradun city. A total of 300 serum samples were collected from healthy individual with no history of fever and who had not received any vaccination for enteric fever. Tube agglutination test was done with commercially available antigens which contained the Salmonella enterica serovar typhi O and H antigens, the Salmonella enterica serovar paratyphi AH antigen and paratyphi BH antigen. In the present study an agglutination titer for TO - 1:20 is 28%, for 1:40 is 24%, followed by 1:80 and 1: 160 which is 10%, 4% respectively. The highest sample with an anti-H titre found with 1:20 (22%) followed by 1:40(17%). Based upon the results of the study it has been recommended that a single Widal can be significant in an endemic region when higher titre (1:160) is obtained. I. INTRODUCTION Enteric fever is endemic in developing country like India and it continues to be one of the major health problem here (1). Typhoid fever is a systemic infection which is caused by the bacterium, Salmonella enterica serotype typhi. This highly adapted human specific pathogen has evolved remarkable mechanism for its persistence in its host that helps the organism to ensure its survival and transmission(2). Enteric fever afflicts the local community and the travelers to the endemic areas. The incidence tends to be rise during the rainy season due to water logging and contamination of the water with sewage. The social factors that add to the enigma are the pollution of the drinking water supplies due to open air defecation, urination, contaminated food, personal hygiene, habits and poor health practices. The definite diagnosis of enteric fever in the patients with a compatible clinical picture is made on the basis of isolation of the Salmonella from blood, bone marrow, stool or urine and demonstration of the 4 fold rise in the antibody titer to both O and the H antigen of the organism between the acute and the convalescent phase (3). In developing countries, facilities for isolation and culture are often not available especially in smaller hospitals, and diagnosis relies upon the clinical features of the disease and detection of agglutinating antibodies to S. typhi and S. paratyphi by Widal test. Classically four-fold rise of antibody in paired sera is considered diagnostic of typhoid fever (4). But paired sera are often difficult to obtain and specific chemotherapy has to be instituted on the basis of a single Widal test (5). The aim of the present study was to determine the baseline titer of healthy population of Dehradun city.