Abstract
Typhoid fever poses a serious public health problem in Nigeria and is largely diagnosed based on the Widal agglutination test which has been proven to be neither sensitive nor specific. This study determined the prevalence of typhoid fever using both Widal agglutination test and blood culture using automated microbiology systems (BD BACTEC). The study was carried out among 90 patients attending Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital in Kano. Out of the 90 cases recruited for the study, none of the cases (0, 0.0%) had S. Typhi isolated using blood culture. However, 18 cases (20%) had other bacteria which are not S. Typhi isolated using blood culture while 72 cases (80%) were negative. For the Widal test, 63 cases (70%) were positive for anti S. Typhi O antigen while 27 cases (30%) were negative. Similarly, 42 cases (46.7%) were positive for anti S. Typhi H antigen, while 48 cases (53.3%) were negative. Type of toilet system was found to be significantly associated with non S. Typhi bacteraemia (P=0.021). The studyrecommends the use of other diagnostic test such as molecular techniques to determine the sensitivity and specificity of both Widal and cultural methods.
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