ABSTRACT

The bacterium, Salmonella typhi, is known to cause typhoid fever, a life threatening illness (Abera et al., 2010). Annually, typhoid fever is known to record cases estimated to be between 13-16 million, which result in 216,000 deaths. The most affected are children and young adults between the ages of 5 and 19 years. As of 2010, these cases caused about 190,000 deaths, a rise from 137,000 recorded in 1990. This study tends to identify and quantitate antibodies in human sera which were achieved with three different brands of Widal test kits (plasmatec, biotec and Chronolab to be précised) as the selected febrile antigens for the laboratory investigation. Salmonella typhi (such as Typhoid fever) infections pose a serious health effect in developing countries. A reliable data base on blood positive cultures is essential for prompt interventions. A data was retrieved from a previous study in seen facilities in Abuja and three (3) hospitals in Kano from 2008 to 2017 and 2013 to 2017, respectively. A declining trend in percentage positivity of S lyphi was observed in Abuja with more erratic trends in Lagos and Kano. Another data obtained from daily trust from different hospitals across the country showed a wide disparity between the number of people diagnosed with typhoid fever with Widal tests and those diagnosed from other confirmatory tests such as blood and stool culture tests. At Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano (AKTH), statistics showed that 569 suspected cases of typhoid fever were recorded between January and June, 2018. The acting Head of Microbiology Department, Dr.Edwin Chinagozi who disclosed this to daily trust said 199 cases tested positive through Widal tested method while 9 patients were isolated through blood and stool culture, respectively. Contaminated water and poor sanitation are the most common causes of typhoid fever in developing nations (Bhanu et al., 2011). Though one can be treated with antibiotics, a few who •0 recover are known to still harbor the bacteria for years in their gall bladder or intestinal tracts. These chronic carriers as they are referred to may infect others through shedding the bacteria in their feces though they might not have signs or symptoms (Breiman et al., 2012). The problem however, is the fact that in developing nations, the equipment, supplies and trained laboratory personnel required especially in primary health-care can rarely be found. However, most healthcare facilities use only one of these methods without confirmation of results with a second test method. This at times leads to unnecessary and inappropriate antimicrobial treatment of patients without the typhoid fever due to misdiagnosis.