Prevalence of WIDAL Positivity in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Hyderabad, Telangana-A Retrospective Study

Typhoid (enteric) fever caused by Salmonella typhi is an important cause of morbidity and mortality (Buckle et al., 2010; Mogasale et al., 2014). The situation is further complicated by increased incidence in some countries of S. Paratyphi A as a cause of enteric fever (Crump et al., 2004). While both diseases share clinical features, paratyphoid fever tends to have a more benign course of illness. Without effective treatment, typhoid fever has a case-fatality rate of 10–30%. This number is reduced to 1–4% in those receiving appropriate therapy (Crump et al., 2004). Typhoid fever is endemic in India. The prevalence rate of typhoid in India is 88 cases/lac population and death due to typhoid is 0.029/lakh population (Park, 2013). Risk factors include contaminated water or ice, flooding, food and drinks purchased from street vendors, raw fruits and vegetables grown in fields fertilised with sewage, illhoused contacts, lack of hand washing and toilet access and evidence of prior Helicobacter pylori (David et al., 2012). The disease occurs at all age groups but is probably most common in age group 520years (Ananthanarayan, 2013). Salmonellae are Gram negative rods from the family Enterobacteriaceae. They are motile, flagellate, non-sporulating and facultative anaerobic bacilli. It has three main antigens: somatic O antigen, surface Virulent Vi International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 9 (2017) pp. 2139-2144 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com