Effect of Malaria Infections on Widal Agglutinin Level

Abstract

Aim: To determine any relationship between Malaria infections and Widal agglutinin level. Patients and Methods: Three hundred and thirty adult patients attending various clinics at University Of Nigeria Teaching Hospital between September 2000 and May 2001 first confirmed of malaria parasitaemia also had Widal agglutinin levels checked. Similar thing was done for 200 healthy individuals who have not suffered malaria or any pyrexial illness in the past two months used as control. The level of malaria parasitaemia was determined by microscopy of Giemsa stained thick and thin blood films, while Widal agglutinin titres were determined by using both slide and tube dilution methods. Results: In the study population, 134 (41%) with malaria parasitaemia had Widal agglutinin above 1:80 and females (57%) were more affected. The study showed that 313 (95%) of the patients had parasitic load of 1+ and 2+ occurring frequently while 13 (4%) had parasitaemia of 3+. In the control group 96 (48%) had Widal agglutinin of 1:80 and none exceeded this level, while only 10 had parasitaemia of 1+. Conclusions: There exist an influence of malaria on Widal agglutinin level (χ 2 = 110.6, P Key Words: Pyrexia,Malaria parasitaemia, Widal agglutinin. Journal of College of Medicine 2005: 9(2): 104-106