title: Typhoid fever in paediatric patients in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the seropositivity of typhoid fever in febrile pediatric patients presenting to tertiary care center.
  
  
  METHODS
  This observational study was conducted at Children Hospital Quetta (CHQ) from July 2011 to March 2012. The children with three or more days fever, no obvious focus of infection and clinically suspected of typhoid fever were screened. Sterile Blood samples were obtained from febrile patients and Widal and Typhidot® tests were performed for the diagnosis of Typhoid fever in the suspected populations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total of 2964 clinically suspected patients were screened for typhoid fever. Of these, 550 (18.6%) patients were positive serologically. The higher prevalence of the disease in hot summer season and increasing pattern of the disease was observed in summer days. The disease was higher in school age children under 5-10 years. Although non-significant association was observed on sex basis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings highlight the considerable burden of typhoid fever in pre-school and school-aged children. The variation in the disease pattern has also been observed under seasonal variation and different age groups, all of which need to be considered in deliberations to control the typhoid fever.
authors.affiliation: Muhammad Naeem Khan, Department of Microbiology, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naeem Khan
authors.affiliation: Muhammad Shafee, Lecturer, Center for Advanced studies in Vaccinology & Biotechnology (CASVAB), University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shafee
authors.affiliation: Kamran Hussain, Microbiologist Children Hospital, Quetta, Pakistan. Center for Advanced studies in Vaccinology & Biotechnology (CASVAB), University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: Abdul Samad, Assistant Professor, Center for Advanced studies in Vaccinology & Biotechnology (CASVAB), University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Samad
authors.affiliation: Muhammad Arif Awan,Assistant Professor, Center for Advanced studies in Vaccinology & Biotechnology (CASVAB), University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arif Awan
authors.affiliation: Abdul Manan, Lecturer, Department of Microbiology, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manan
authors.affiliation: Abdul Wadood, Chairman, Department of Microbiology, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wadood
keywords: Prevalence; Typhidot; Typhoid Fever; Widal