title: Determination of diagnostic Widal titres in Kumasi, Ghana.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana, Ministry of Health, Ghana.
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Frimpong
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Feglo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Essel-Ahun
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Addy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000379:methods*; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005511:Food Handling; D005869:Ghana; D006801:Humans; D010284:Paratyphoid Fever / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012482:Salmonella paratyphi A / Q000276:immunology*; D012485:Salmonella typhi / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014435:Typhoid Fever / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D014504:Urban Health
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial