Widal Test in Infants with Malaria

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to provide a base line for understanding the main differential clinical and laboratory diagnosis of malarial and that of typhoid fever in young children. Fifty-seven inpatient children who were positive for malaria by the ICT technique and blood films (thin and thick) were examined for enteric fever by rapid slide and tube agglutination methods. There 6% of them gave positive significant titer for Salmonella and one of the control cases also gave positive result (O: 1/80 Para tythi 1/.80). (One of the typhoid cases died due to late diagnosis.)? this study showed false malaria positive results which confused the doctors leading to late diagnosis of enteric fever. Also another reason for the late diagnosis was that doctors usually exclude Salmonella infection in children below one-year of age which could be another factor for missing cases and for late diagnosis. Clinical diagnosis of malarial and enteric fever children were difficult so reliable laboratory techniques used for malaria and enteric fever are highly necessary.