These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Diagnostic value of the Widal test.
    Author: Abraham G, Teklu B, Gedebu M, Selassie GH, Azene G.
    Journal: Trop Geogr Med; 1981 Dec; 33(4):329-33. PubMed ID: 7342378.
    Abstract:
    The usefulness of a single Widal test to diagnose typhoid fever in Ethiopia was investigated in three study groups both retrospectively and prospectively. These were blood culture proven typhoid and non-typhoid patients and healthy individuals. Salmonella typhi H and O titres greater than or equal to 1:160 occurred in respectively 82% and 58% of typhoid fever patients; only 4% of healthy individuals and 8% of non-typhoid patients had Widal titres greater than or equal to 1:80. In typhoid fever, the H titre is elevated earlier and more frequently than the O titre. Antibody rise is maximal during the second week of illness. Antibiotic treatment did not affect the rise of antibody titre in typhoid fever. A single Widal test in an unvaccinated Ethiopian patient showing H and/or O titres greater than or equal to 1:160 and typhoid-like symptoms is strongly suggestive of typhoid fever. It also appears that H titre is more useful than O titre. More false positives are found than false negatives. Under these circumstances, the clinical picture is the decisive factor in making a diagnosis of typhoid.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]