Tropical Doctor > Tropical Doctor Online First > 10.1258/td.2009.090109

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Short Report

Diagnostic utility of a single Widal test in the diagnosis of typhoid fever at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Nairobi, Kenya

Geoffrey Omuse MBChB      Ruchika Kohli MBChB     Gunturu Revathi MBBS MD  

Division of Microbiology, Pathology Department, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya

Correspondence to: Dr Geoffrey Omuse, PO Box 47586-00100, Nairobi, Kenya Email: g_omuse{at}yahoo.com

Typhoid fever is a systemic illness caused by Salmonella enterica serovar typhi (S. typhi) and is endemic in Kenya, where a single Widal test done on an acute phase serum is the most commonly used test. Using a cut-off value of 1:320 for both O and H agglutinins as being diagnostic of S. typhi, only 18 (26%) of our patients had diagnostic titres; 37 (53.6%) had O and H titres less than 1:40. Our study showed that Widal testing done on an acute phase serum of a patient suspected to have typhoid fever had limited diagnostic capability given its low sensitivity.

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