TYPHOID-FEVER - A REVIEW OF ITS IMPACT AND DIAGNOSTIC PROBLEMS

A retrospective analysis was done on the diagnosis of typhoid fever ba sed on clinical symptoms and available laboratory data over the last 1 6 years from rural areas of four African countries. This analysis conc entrated on the reliability of diagnosis without cultures which cannot be performed in most rural hospitals due to lack of the necessary exp ertise and equipments. The analysis showed the problem to be increasin g perhaps because of interraction of salmonella infection with human i mmunodeficiency virus (HIV), malnutrition and other infections togethe r with neglected sanitary facilities and lack of clean water. The use of certain cardinal clinical symptoms combined with available laborato ry tests were shown to enhance the diagnosis of typhoid fever, especia lly in vulnerable persons. In conclusion the paper suggests that using the approach followed to obtain this data in rural tropical areas one can confidently make a diagnosis of typhoid fever.