Typhoid fever in paediatric patients in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.

QUETTA (Pakistan); PAKISTAN

Objectives: 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. Conclusion: The findings highlight the considerable burden of typhoid fever in pre-school and schoolaged 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences is the property of Professional Medical Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)