The value of a single Widal test in the diagnosis of acute typhoid fever

During an outbreak of typhoid fever in A1-Salt town, Jordan a study was made to correlate patient's positive blood culture for Salmonella typhi with a single Widal agglutination test during the acute stage of the disease. 24/26 (92%) of the patients with positive blood culture developed TO, TH or both agglutinin titres of 1/80 and more. This study indicates that a single Widal test is probably highly diagnostic in acute cases of typhoid fever.