Prevalence and awareness of mode of transmission of typhoid fever in patients diagnosed with Salmonella typhi and paratyphi infections at the Saint Elisabeth general hospital Shisong, Bui division, Cameroon

Abstract

Introduction: typhoid fever is a systemic infectious disease caused by the bacteria Salmonella enterica subspecies (typhi). It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed at determining the prevalence and awareness of the mode of transmission of Salmonella typhi among patients at the Saint Elisabeth General Hospital Shisong of Cameroon. Methods: the study carried out from March 1st, 2017 to May 31st, 2017 recruited patients who presented at the hospital with clinical signs and symptoms of typhoid fever and who had lab requests for stool culture requested by the resident physician. The prevalence of Salmonella typhiinfections among the patients and the proportion of patients with adequate knowledge on the mode of transmission of Salmonella typhi were estimated at a 95% CI. Data were analyzed using Epi info7.1.3.3. Results: out of the 172 patients recruited for the studies, 52 (30.1%) were diagnosed with Salmonella typhi, 59.6% of which were male. Also, 3 (5.8%) were diagnosed with Salmonella paratyphoid A. A positive correlation between knowledge on the mode of transmission oSalmonella typhi and the level of education was established, showing that 92% of participants with a higher level of education indicating that typhoid fever can be contracted through consumption of contaminated water. Conclusion: high prevalence of typhoid fever was observed in our study. The unawareness of the patients on typhoid fever and its contraction through contaminated water and food was positively correlated to the level of educations ofdefinitive diagnosis of typhoid fever depends on the isolation of Salmonella typhi from blood, stool, urine, and other body fluids [1]. Previous studies show that the prevalence of typhoid fever in 2003 was 2.5% while recent data on the prevalence of typhoid fever is still unavailable. To address this gap of information, a cross-sectional study at the Saint Elisabeth General Hospital Shisong, Bui Division, North West region of Cameroon was carried out to assess the prevalence of typhoid and paratyphoid fever among patients and their awareness of the sources of contamination and means of prevention.