Clinical aspects of typhoid fever in two rural Nigerian hospitals. A prospective study

During a prospective study among 234 patients admitted with fever in two rural hospitals in West and Central Nigeria 38 cases of typhoid fever were found. The diagnosis was based on extensive serological testing in the Netherlands. The diazotest was introduced but appeared not helpful. The ordinary Widal test was not fully reliable. Eighty five percent of the patients responded to chloramphenicol. The course of typhoid fever in West Nigeria was more severe than in Central Nigeria. The findings are compared with those of similar studies of typhoid fever.