Developing A Guide For Baseline Salmonella Agglutinin Titres According To Age, Gender And Hiv Status In Patients Attending At Hospitals In Northern Namibia

ABSTRACT

In Namibia, the Widal test (a blood test that detects level of Salmonella antibodies) is widely used in the diagnosis of typhoid fever. There are no available normal population baseline Salmonella agglutinins titres in Namibia which can be used to come up with country specific diagnostic titres for typhoid fever. The normal population baseline Salmonella agglutinin titre is used as the basis for the interpretation of the Widal test. Since there is no guide, it means that standardization of patient care in Namibia is not possible. The aim of the study was to develop a guide for the interpretation of diagnostic Salmonella agglutinin titres for typhoid fever after performing a Widal test. The objectives of the study were to; determine the prevalence of typhoid fever for age, gender and HIV status among patients attending five hospitals in northern Namibia; establish age, gender and HIV status presumptively diagnostic Salmonella agglutinin titres for the diagnosis of typhoid fever; develop a conceptual framework based on the outcome of the situational analysis; develop a guide for baseline Salmonella agglutinin titres for age, gender and HIV status in patients attending hospitals in northern Namibia and finally to implement, monitor and evaluate the efficacy of the guide on baseline. Blood samples were collected from 400 subjects; 200 males and 200 females, of the 200 males 100 were children (