Re-appraising Widal test as a diagnostic tool in Nigeria
Keywords:
Widal Test, Diagnosis, NigeriaAbstract
The standard for the diagnosis of typhoid fever depends on the isolation of the organism from the patient’s bone marrow, blood, urine or stool through culture. However, the Widal test can be used as a serological test for the same purpose if a fourfold antibody titer can be obtained from the patient. The problem is that many laboratories do not receive a second serum sample and so, reliance is placed on one sample for diagnosis. This is not the correct methodology for Widal test and therefore, the result should not be authentic. Clinicians are advised to be more careful while examiningtheir suspected with typhoid fever especially knowing that there may also be false positiveresults with Widal tests.Key words:Widal test, typhoid fever, diagnosis, Nigeria
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