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Determination of diagnostic Widal titres in Kumasi, Ghana.
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2000
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Pathogen DetectionImmunologyDiagnosisDisease DetectionMedical DiagnosisClinical EpidemiologyDiagnostic Widal TitresGastrointestinal VirusFood MicrobiologyInfection ControlPublic HealthDisease DiagnosisLaboratory MedicineAntimicrobial ResistanceAllergyFoodborne PathogensEnteric FeverPathogen CharacterizationClinical MicrobiologyFood SafetyTyphoid FeverGlobal HealthPathogenesisFoodborne IllnessInternational HealthSignificant TitreMedicineWidal Test
Three hundred and seven healthy food handlers and 34 blood-culture positive enteric fever patients were screened for Salmonellae agglutinins using the Widal test. Of the 307 healthy food handlers, only 3 (1.0%) had an anti-O titre of > or = 1/160 and 8 (2.6%) an anti-H titre of > or = 1/320 for Salmonella typhi, but the majority, 214 (69.7%) and 149 (48.5%) had titres of < 1/20 for O and H agglutinins respectively. Similar agglutinin titres were also seen for S. Paratyphi A, B, and C. In the 34 enteric fever patients, for S typhi, based on anti-O titre of > or = 1/160, 25 persons showed a significant titre, a sensitivity of 73.5%, and a specificity of 99.0%. And 21 persons showed a significant titre of > or = 1/320 for anti-H, a sensitivity of 61.8% and a specificity of 97.4%. Based on these findings, titres of > or = 1/160 and > or = 1/320 for anti-0 and anti-H respectively, were considered diagnostic for enteric fever in Kumasi, Ghana.