Comparative study of stool culture and Widal Test for screening of Salmonella infection in Mohammed Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital, Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

A comparative study of the use of stool culture and Widal test methods for screening Salmonella infection in Mohammed Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital (M.A.W.S.H) Kano was carried out on out patients clinically suspected to be suffering from typhoid fever. Serum and stool samples from 150 out patients attending M.A.W.S.H were serologically (by Widal test) and culturally screened for Salmonellae. One hundred and sixteen (77.3%) patients serum were significantly reactive to Widal test, and out of these patients only 25 (16.7%) yielded positive stool cultures of salmonella on Salmonella-Shigella medium. Three (2.0%) and two (1.3%) stool samples whose serum samples were negative and non-significantly reactive to widal test respectively, yielded positive culture of Salmonella. Therefore, we cannot use Widal test alone neither stool culture alone for the correct diagnosis of typhoid fever.