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Widal antibody titre test versus blood culture; which is a better diagnostic for typhoid fever?   

*1Popoola, O. D., 1Thomas, B. T., 2Folorunso, J. B., 1Balogun-Abiola, H. T., 1Adekola, H. A., 1Okulaja, Q. O., and 1Coker, M. O.

1Department of Microbiology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria

2Department of Medical Laboratory, Directorate of Health Services, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria

*Correspondence to: dorcasatmoment@gmail.com; omolara.popoola@oouagoiwoye.edu.ng; +234-8075773022

ORCID: //orcid.org/0000-0001-6816-5627

 

Abstract:

Background: The importance of accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases is central and crucial to the effectiveness of treatment and prevention of the associated long-term complications of such infections. The objective of this study was therefore to determine the accuracy of the Widal antibody titre test in the diagnosis of typhoid fever relative to the gold standard blood culture technique. Continue reading “Widal antibody titre test versus blood culture; which is a better diagnostic for typhoid fever?   “

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Multidrug resistant Salmonellae isolated from blood culture samples of suspected typoid patients in Warri, Nigeria

DA Ehwarieme

 

Abstract

This study investigates the prevalence of R-plasmids in Salmonella sp. isolated from blood samples of suspected typhoid patients in Warri, Nigeria. A total of 136 blood samples were collected between May and December,2009 and screened for the presence of Salmonellae using standard blood culture techniques of which 20(14.7%) was positive for the pathogen. The multidrug resistant (MDR) isolates obtained (n=16; 80.0%), exhibiting the Ampicillin, Chloramphenicol, Cotrimoxazole and Tetracyclin (ACCoT) resistance profile, were subjected to plasmid curing. All (100%) of these MDR isolates bore their resistance markers on plasmids, as they lost their resistance sequel to the curing experiment. The low prevalence (14.7%) of the pathogen in the blood samples indicate that a good number of the suspected typhoid cases may not be incidences of the disease afterall. Furthermore, the high prevalence of MDR and plasmid-mediated MDR (80.0% and 100% respectively) isolates, suggest that treatment failures may be rampant if precise susceptibility test is not conducted prior to prescription.

Key words: Multidrug resistant, blood culture, typhoid fever.

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Multidrug resistant Salmonellae isolated from blood culture samples of suspected typoid patients in Warri Nigeria