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288471

Comparative study of Widal test to stool culture for the diagnosis of suspected typhoid fever: a study in a primary health centre, Ghana

Article

Last updated: 25 Dec 2024

Subjects

-

Tags

Medical microbiology

Abstract

Background: Misdiagnosis of typhoid fever is common since most primary healthcare relies on only the Widal test without further confirmation. This study compared stool culture to the performance of the Widal test at the Methodist Hospital, Wenchi, in the Bono Region of Ghana. Methods: This study recruited 178 persons suspected of typhoid fever. Venous blood and stool samples were collected to assess antibodies to the Salmonella typhi (S. typhi) H and O antigens using the Ozotex Widal test kit and isolate S. typhi using culture techniques. An antibody titre value ≥ 1:80 was considered positive for the Widal test. Also, the performance of the Widal test was evaluated using the results from the stool culture as the standard reference.  Results: The prevalence of typhoid fever, as confirmed by isolating S. typhi from the stool, was 6.2%. From the Widal test, the prevalence of typhoid fever was 71.3%, with 81.8% sensitivity, 29.3% specificity, 7.1% positive predictive value and 96.1% negative predictive value. Also, the Widal test has a lower agreement with the stool culture (kappa = 0.021). Conclusion: The Widal test was not dependable for diagnosing typhoid fever; hence, microbial culture should always confirm results from the Widal test.

DOI

10.21608/mid.2023.191532.1460

Keywords

Typhoid Fever, Widal test, Stool Culture, sensitivity, healthcare

Authors

First Name

Seth

Last Name

Domfeh

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biosciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

Email

sadomfeh@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

0000-0002-1689-7663

First Name

Moses

Last Name

Amoah

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Garden City University College, Kenyasi-Kumasi, Ghana

Email

freshanointingoil146@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Loretta

Last Name

Sefa

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Garden City University College, Kenyasi-Kumasi, Ghana

Email

afialove87@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

4

Article Issue

4

Related Issue

43799

Issue Date

2023-11-01

Receive Date

2023-02-03

Publish Date

2023-11-01

Page Start

1,409

Page End

1,415

Print ISSN

2682-4132

Online ISSN

2682-4140

Link

https://mid.journals.ekb.eg/article_288471.html

Detail API

https://mid.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=288471

Order

37

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,157

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Microbes and Infectious Diseases

Publication Link

https://mid.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Comparative study of Widal test to stool culture for the diagnosis of suspected typhoid fever: a study in a primary health centre, Ghana

Details

Type

Article

Created At

25 Dec 2024