Ask the Doctor

Widal test and typhoid fever

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Any time my children had fever, they will be tested for Typhoid Fever using a Laboratory test called Widal Test which always confirmed that they have Typhoid Fever. It was only recently that another doctor told me that Widal Test is not the correct Laboratory test for Typhoid Fever. Kindly help me to clarify this because I am confused.

Beatrice (by SMS)

The doctor is right. According to the Standard Treatment Guideline developed by the Federal Ministry of Health in 2008, the correct diagnosis of Typhoid Fever can only be got through a positive culture. Specimens for culture may be obtained from the blood, stool, urine, bone marrow, gastric and intestinal secretions. The Guideline lists the Widal test as a non-specific investigation that gives high rates of false positives and negatives, and the guidelines emphasise that “there are no diagnostic tests for typhoid fever other than positive cultures.’’

 

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