Typhoid Fever in an Ethiopian Health Center

ABSTRACT Objectives: Typhoid fever due to Salmonella enterica serovars Typhi and Paratyphi occur in urban areas with poor sanitation. So, the objective of this study was to assess the trends and prevalence of typhoid fever at Arba Minch Health Center in the past five years, 2014-2018 by using the medical records of patients. Methods: A retrospective study was performed in Arba Minch Health Center between 2014 and 2018. All data of the patients which were suspected for typhoid fever were collected from log patients log books. Results: In total 1,765 patients’ records were followed with typhoid fever diagnosis. The findings of the study revealed that typhoid fever decreased from the year 2014 to 2018 and the incidence of the disease was high at the ages between 5 and 15, but varied, especially in the ages between 16 and 30 years. The overall sex differences in this study were 836 (47.4%) males and 923 (52.3%) were female. This indicates, females were more susceptible to this disease compared to their counterparts, males. Conclusions: Based on the major findings, it has been important to regularly promote the awareness of the people on the causes of the disease, its method of infection, its mode of transmission and its control method. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2019; 9(3):150-154.

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