Nested polymerase chain reaction for early diagnosis of typhoid fever

Typhoid fever, caused by Salmonella typhi, is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in many developing countries. A rapid and sensitive method for the detection of S. typhi is essential for early diagnosis. This was a study to prospectively evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify the S. typhi using flagellin gene related primers. The study was carried out in the department of Microbiology, Mymensingh Medical College, Mymensingh between July, 2010 and June, 2011, including 82 individuals of different age and sex. Of them, 62 were clinically suspected cases of typhoid fever and remaining 20 were apparently healthy controls. Cultures as well as PCR of blood specimens were performed for each of the cases. Among the 62 suspected typhoid fever cases, 8(12.9%) were blood culture positive and 55(88.7%) were PCR positive for S. typhi. All culture positive cases were positive by PCR and among 54 culture negative cases, 47(87%) were positive by PCR. Neither of the healthy controls was positive by PCR or blood culture. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of PCR using blood culture as gold standard were 88.7%, 100%, 100% and 74% respectively for typhoid fever. In this study, the PCR appears highly specific, very sensitive and superior to blood culture for the early diagnosis of typhoid fever.